Dow climbs 100 points; S&P and Nasdaq hit record highs
The Dow Jones industrial average jumped on Monday more than 100 points as Cisco Systems’ stock popped on the back of a massive cyberattack. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite also rose and hit record highs.
A “ransomware” virus dubbed WannaCry hit 200,000 in more than 100 countries on Friday. The virus locked up computers in car factories, hospitals and schools.
President Donald Trump ordered Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert to hold an emergency meeting Friday night to assess the threat posed by the attack, Reuters reported.
The PureFunds ISE Cyber Security ETF (HACK) rose more than 3 percent, putting it on track for its best day of the year.
The S&P 500 climbed 0.4 percent, with energy advancing more than 1 percent to lead advancers. Energy received a boost from rising oil prices.
West Texas Intermediate futures spiked 2.74 percent to $49.15 per barrel after Russia’s Alexander Novak and Saudi Arabia’s Khalid al-Falih said the two countries agreed to extend a production cut until March 2018.
That said, an increase production from the U.S. could cap energy’s gains, said Jason Pride, director of investment strategy at Glenmede. “Our Take: Oil should trade in the $50-70 range as increased demand is met by supply from U.S. share oil producers,” Pride said in a note Monday.
The comments from al-Falih and Novak helped the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE), which tracks the S&P energy sector, climb about 1.2 percent.
The Nasdaq composite, meanwhile, was led higher by a rise in large-cap tech stocks, including Facebook and Alphabet.
Equities have traded near record levels recently as investors have shrugged off conflict in Washington that could derail the implementation of pro-growth policies as well as geopolitical tensions.
“Investors have been desensitized with all the news about North Korea and out of Washington,” said Christian Magoon, CEO of Amplify ETFs. “I think it;s doing them a disservice.”
North Korea said this weekend it tested a new type of missile that can carry a nuclear warhead. However, the U.S. military’s Pacific Command said on Sunday the type of missile that was fired was “not consistent” with an ICBM and South Korea’s military played down the North’s claim of technical progress on atmospheric re-entry.
“Everything seems to slide off this market,” said Bruce McCain, chief investment strategist at Key Private Bank. “Other than a potentially cataclysmic event in Washington, … I think the slowdown in economic data” could threaten the market in the next 3-to-6 months. “In the meantime, the market continues to hold up with its Teflon curtain.”
In economic news, the National Association of Home Builders survey showed sentiment among home builders came in at 70 for May. Anything above 50 is considered positive sentiment. The index was at 58 in May of last year.
Meanwhile, the Empire State manufacturing index dropped to negative 1 in May from a print of 5.2 last month.
Source: Reuters & CNBC
