Stocks ended yet another day in the green, even though tensions in the Middle East linger. The U.S. president stated today that prospects for a deal with Iran are “looking very good” and that Iran had agreed to terms it has long resisted, including limits on its nuclear ambitions, a claim that Iranian officials have not yet confirmed. Nevertheless, with only limited gains today, the market could be experiencing fatigue over new headlines on the same issue.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 115 points to 48,579. The NASDAQ rose 0.49% to 26,333, setting another fresh record. The S&P 500 rose 0.26% to 7,041, also reaching a new all-time high. Today’s market leader was energy, which reacted once again to the rise in oil prices. However, the rest of the stock market was boosted by the prospect of fast earnings growth and posted fairly widespread gains. Healthcare, industrials, consumer discretionary, and financials ended the day in the red.
The bond market continued to show caution. The U.S. 5-year Treasury yield rose 2 basis points to 3.92%, and the 10-year yield rose 4 basis points to 4.32%.
Moving on to economic data, today’s jobless claims continued to reflect a low-firing environment. Combined with the latest jobs report, the economy appears to remain in a “low hire, low fire” state. Then there is the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing survey, which showed a similar pattern to yesterday’s Empire State manufacturing survey, with surprisingly strong growth.
There will be a vacuum of economic data tomorrow, but surely the market will bring us plenty of other news to cover. Thank you for listening. This is Adams Wealth Advisors.