U.S. equities climbed higher on Monday in a continuation of the easy, low volatility conditions that have dominated over the past three months. Large-cap stocks, as measured by the S&P 500, closed above the 2,400 level for the first time, bagging another high.
In the end, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.4%, the S&P wafted up 0.5%, the Nasdaq Composite added 0.5% and the Russell 2000 gained 0.8%. Treasury bonds weakened, the dollar was lower, gold gained 0.2% and oil rose 2.1% on word Saudi Arabia and Russia backed an extension of recent output cuts.
Breadth was heavily positive, at 3.1 advancing issues to every decliner on the NYSE while volume was in line with the 30-day average.
Trivago NV – ADR (NASDAQ:TRVG) gained 12% on in-line earnings and a revenue beat on increased ad spending. FireEye Inc (NASDAQ:FEYE) gained 7.5% in the wake of Friday’s “WannaCry” ransomware attack, as Goldman noted the company could see an increase in its incident-response business.
And Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) gained 2.7% on an upgrade to overweight at JPMorgan on expectations of a turnaround in revenue growth and sentiment.
On the downside, Sears Holding Corp (NASDAQ:SHLD) continued the bloodbath underway in the retail space falling 12.4% on reports Craftsman tool supplier One World was threatening a lawsuit to improve its contract terms. J C Penney Company Inc (NYSE:JCP) fell 4.6% on a bevy of analyst downgrades following weak earnings last week.
And Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) fell 2.8% on a downgrade from Morgan Stanley on likely competitive pressures from Big Tech firms like Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), which may not be discounted in the share price.
Turning to the economic data, the calendar was relatively quiet. The Empire Manufacturing Index slipped on a drop in new orders while employment measures remained strong. Homebuilder sentiment improved to the best reading of the year.
On a technical basis, despite the day’s gains, the number of new 52-week highs on the NYSE increased 31% to 54 issues triggering another Hindenburg Omen as this, combined with a rollover in medium-term measures of breadth, suggest buying exhaustion is setting in.
Anthony Mirhaydari is founder of the Edge (ETFs) and Edge Pro (Options) investment advisory newsletters. A two-week and four-week free trial offer has been extended to Investorplace readers. Redeem by clicking the links above.
