Despite the bump in jobless claims, stock markets jumped in yesterday’s session. The S&P 500 and the NASDAQ Composite jumped 0.20% and 0.36% in yesterday’s session, respectively. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.07%.
The stock market's strength came after the stock prices of major technology companies, such as Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), surged in yesterday's session. The stock prices of social media companies Snap (NYSE:SNAP) and Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) have risen as their earnings have outperformed previous projections.
Asian Stock Markets
Stock traders should keep a close eye on the performance of Chinese technology companies in the coming days, as Beijing considers imposing severe penalties on the notorious ride-hailing behemoth Didi (NYSE:DIDI). The fine is expected to be greater than the $2.8 billion fine paid by Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) earlier this year, or even a forced delisting from the Chinese stock exchange.
As of 10:49 p.m. EST, the Shanghai Composite index was down 0.49%, while the ASX 200 index was up 0.06% and Seoul's KOSPI surged 0.17%. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong fell 0.85%.
Oil
Oil prices rose yesterday as investors predicted tighter supplies in the second half of 2021 as countries recover from the coronavirus pandemic, increasing demand for the black gold. Morgan Stanley predicts that price of Brent, the global benchmark, will trade between mid and high $70s over the next six months.
Investors should keep in mind that, while OPEC+ has agreed to increase supply by 400,000 barrels per day beginning in August, the surge in demand is expected to outstrip supply, raising the outlook of oil prices. In response to the ever-changing dynamics, Barclays revised its oil price projections to $5 from $3, with an average price of $69 per barrel.
Brent crude oil settled at $73.60 per barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate settled at $71.69 per barrel as of 11:00 p.m. EST.