July 21, 2020

Good morning,

While all three major U.S. equity indices posted gains yesterday, the NASDAQ got back on track with a comparative monster rally aided by big-tech names including Apple, Microsoft, Netflix and Facebook.  On the day, the Dow and S&P 500 gained 8.97 and 27.11 points, or 0.03% and 0.84%, respectively.  The NASDAQ, which has lagged the other markets over the last two weeks, jumped 263.89 points, or 2.51%.  The NASDAQ has now gained 20% for the year.

In addition to technology, the markets continued to focus on developments of a coronavirus vaccine.  AstraZeneca reported optimistic trial data for their experimental virus vaccine.  The stock of UK biotech firm, Synairgen, spiked almost 552% on Monday after announcing that its virus drug was associated with a significantly lower chance of patient requiring a ventilator or dying.

As for the markets looking ahead, Bank of America’s Stephen Suttmeier expects the S&P 500 to have a “summer rally” as several technical indicators signal further gains on the horizon.  Note that the S&P 500 has rallied more than 47% since hitting the market low on March 23.