U.S. equities bounded higher driven — and I’m not joking — by word Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) was going to raise the price of its most popular streaming subscription service by $1 a month. That was like a bolt of lightning right to the solar plexus of the average market bull, resulting in panicked buying and a push by the major average to fresh record highs.
In the end, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.5%, the S&P 500 gained 0.6% for its eighth consecutive gain (longest since July 2013), the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.8% and the Russell 2000 gained 0.3%. Treasury bonds weakened, the dollar was higher, gold lost 0.3% and oil was higher on reports Turkey might close its border with the Kurdish region, rising 1.6%.
Click to Enlarge Breadth was positive, with advancers outpacing decliners 1.6 to 1 on light volume, at 87% of the NYSE’s 30-day average. Technology stocks led the way, thanks to NFLX’s 5.4% rise, for a gain of 1.1%. Utilities were the laggards down 0.1%.
Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) gained 3.5% on an upgrade by analysts at Morgan Stanley on a belief the company’s base business is more durable than expected. GrubHub (NYSE:GRUB) fell 3.9% on a downgrade from Citigroup on worries investors could be overestimating the near-term lift to earnings.
Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) gained 1.6% to push back up and over its 50-day moving average and make another attempt at its $1,000-a-share level on reports it will test its own delivery services to replace functions currently carried by FedEx (NYSE:FDX) and UPS (NYSE:UPS).
On the economic front, initial jobless claims fell more than expected heading into Friday’s non-farm payroll report.
Conclusion
It’s becoming increasingly difficult to find things to write about discussing this market, as despite the crawl to incremental new records the action is downright boring. Not a lot of texture. Not a lot of action.
The S&P 500 bagged its sixth consecutive record high, the longest since 1997. And with just four months left in Federal Reserve chairman Janet Yellen’s term, it’s worth noting: Since she warned that “equity market valuations appear stretched” in July 2014, the S&P 500 is up 29% while the Nasdaq Composite is up 53%.
Check out Serge Berger’s Trade of the Day for Oct. 6.
Today’s Trading Landscape
To see a list of the companies reporting earnings today, click here.
For a list of this week’s economic reports due out, click here.
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Anthony Mirhaydari is the founder of the Edge (ETFs) and Edge Pro (Options) investment advisory newsletters. Free two- and four-week trial offers have been extended to InvestorPlace readers.
