Monday's early trade: US stocks climb on China-led recovery hopes

07 Jul, 2020

NEW YORK: Wall Street's major indexes climbed on Monday as data showing unexpected growth in the US services sector last month and optimism over China's economic revival helped investors look past a surge in new cases of Covid-19 at home.

The ISM's non-manufacturing activity index jumped to 57.1 in June, almost returning to pre-pandemic levels, but a recent surge in Covid-19 cases in the United States has threatened the emerging recovery.

During Asian hours, Chinese stocks jumped more than 5% on ample liquidity, cheap funding and expectations of a faster and a better bounce-back in business activity than other major countries that are still battling the coronavirus crisis.

A slew of upbeat US data, including a record rise in June payrolls, has powered the Nasdaq to all-time highs and brought the S&P 500 and the Dow about 6% and 11% below their respective peaks from February.

"Investors are more focused on what the other side of this pandemic looks like, as opposed to the short-term risks of shutdowns," said Matt Lindholm, managing director - investment strategies at CAZ Investments in Houston.

At 11:09 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 366.02 points, or 1.42%, at 26,193.38, the S&P 500 was up 48.09 points, or 1.54%, at 3,178.10. The Nasdaq Composite was up 236.36 points, or 2.32%, at 10,443.99.

Ten of the 11 major S&P sectors were trading higher, with technology providing the biggest boost to the benchmark S&P 500.

Among individual shares, Tesla Inc surged 9%, rising for the fifth session as JPMorgan bumped up its price target for the electric carmaker's stock following better-than-expected quarterly deliveries.

Uber Technologies Inc climbed 5.4% after the ride-sharing company agreed to buy food-delivery app Postmates Inc in a $2.65-billion all-stock deal.

Dominion Energy Inc and Duke Energy Corp fell 7.5% and 2.5%, respectively, after the energy firms abandoned the $8-billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline project after a long delay to clear legal roadblocks almost doubled its estimated cost.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 3.21-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 2.51-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P index recorded 36 new 52-week highs and no new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 133 new highs and nine new lows.

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