Stock Market News For June 20, 2017

Technology shares bounced back on Monday, sending benchmarks higher. Both the Dow and the S&P 500 posted record closes. Shares of tech stalwarts including Apple, Facebook and Amazon recovered helping Nasdaq to end its three day losing streak. Additionally, financials moved north following comments from New York Federal Reserve President William Dudley. Meanwhile, investors also kept a close watch on the outcome of the final round of voting in French parliamentary elections.

For a look at the issues currently facing the markets, make sure to read today’s Ahead of Wall Street article.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) advanced 0.7% to close at 21,528.99, setting both an intraday as well as a closing high. The S&P 500 gained 0.8% to close at a record level of 2,453.46. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index rose 1.4% to finish at 6,239.01, marking its largest one-day percentage and point wise move since Nov 7 last year. The Dow, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq have advanced 8.9%, 9.6% and 15.9% respectively on a year to date basis.

A total of around 6.3 billion shares were traded on Monday, lower than the last 20-session average of 6.8 billion shares. The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) traded near 10.3. Advancers outnumbered declining stocks on the NYSE by a 1.76 to 1 ratio.

Technology Shares Recover

Technology shares staged a recovery on Monday, pushing the benchmarks higher. CEO’s of major tech companies, including Amazon's (NASDAQ:AMZN) Jeff Bezos and Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) Tim Cook participated in the first meeting of the newly formed American Technology Council with President Trump on Monday at the White House. The meeting was focused on concerns surrounding the H-1B visa program and upgrading federal computer systems in order to protect them from cyber attacks.

Investors appeared to have recovered their faith in tech shares after a three-day decline in technology shares. Shares of large-cap technology companies such as Apple finished 2.9% higher, posting its largest one-day gain since February while shares of Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) gained 1.5%. Amazon advanced 0.8%, hitting an all time high at the beginning of the session. .

Technology shares suffered setbacks after Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) released reports which issued warnings on valuations of major technology companies. The downgrade of tech giant Apple by Mizuho Securities also extended the tech selloff.

A recovery of technology shares had a positive impact on the broader markets. The broader Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) advanced 1.5%, marking its largest one-day increase since December. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Financials Gain

Financials gained on Monday, after New York Federal Reserve President William Dudley expressed concern over the prevailing level of inflation. However, Dudley added that prices would likely rise as wages increased. A strong labor market would fuel such wage gains which would help the Fed pursue monetary tightening.

The broader Financials Select Sector SPDR (XLF) advanced 1%, emerging as one of the best performing sector of S&P 500. Some of its key holdings including Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) and Goldman Sachs Group gained 2.1% and 2% respectively.

French Parliamentary Election

President Emmanuel Macron secured a comfortable victory in the final round of voting in parliamentary elections on Sunday. As per the Interior Ministry, Macron’s party, La République en Marche, along with its centrist ally secured 350 of 577 seats in the National Assembly.

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