U.S. Stocks Extending Last Friday’s Rebound Following Upbeat Goldman Sachs Earnings

Following the notable rebound seen during last Friday’s trading, stocks are seeing further upside in morning trading on Monday. The major averages have all moved notably higher, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the advance.

Currently, the major averages are off their highs of the session but remain firmly positive. The Dow is up 178.38 points or 0.6 percent at 31,466.64, the Nasdaq is up 121.12 points or 1.1 percent at 11,573.55 and the S&P 500 is up 27.25 points or 0.7 percent at 3,890.41.

The extended rebound on Wall Street comes as traders continue to pick up stocks at relatively reduced levels after the rally seen in the previous session halted a recent downward trend.

Positive sentiment has also been generated in reaction to upbeat earnings news from Goldman Sachs (GS), with the financial giant jumping by 3.4 percent.

The advance by Goldman Sachs comes after the company reported second quarter results that exceeded analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines.

Shares of Bank of America (BAC) have also moved to the upside even though the financial giant reported weaker than expected second quarter earnings.

Overall trading activity appears somewhat subdued, however, as traders look ahead to the release of earnings news from a slew of big-name companies later this week.

IBM Corp. (IBM), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Netflix (NFLX), Tesla (TSLA), American Express (AXP) and Twitter (TWTR) are among the companies due to report their quarterly results.

Traders may also be reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decision next week, when the central bank is expected to raise interest rates by at least 75 basis points.

In U.S. economic news, the National Association of Home Builders released a report showing a substantial deterioration in U.S homebuilder confidence in the month of July.

The report showed the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index plunged to 55 in July from 67 in June. Economists had expected the index to edge down to 66.

The HMI showed its second biggest single-month drop after a 42-point nosedive in April 2020, tumbling to its lowest level since May 2020.

Energy stocks are turning in some of the market’s best performances on the day, benefiting from a continued surge in crude oil prices. Crude for August delivery is currently spiking $3.81 to $101.40 a barrel.

Reflecting the strength in the energy sector, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index is up by 4.5 percent, the NYSE Arca Oil Index is up by 3.4 percent and the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index is up by 2.6 percent.

Substantial strength is also visible among steel stocks, as reflected by the 3.4 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Steel Index. The index continues to regain ground after ending last Thursday’s trading at its lowest closing level in well over a year.

Gold stocks are also seeing considerable strength amid an increase by the price of the precious metal, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index surging by 2.4 percent.

Airline, tobacco and brokerage stocks have also shown notable moves to the upside amid broad based buying interest on Wall Street.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher on Monday, with the Japanese markets closed for a holiday. China’s Shanghai Composite Index surged by 1.6 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index spiked by 2.7 percent.

The major European markets have also shown strong moves to the upside on the day. While the While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index has jumped by 1.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.9 percent and the German DAX Index is up by 0.7 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries have come under pressure amid the continued strength on Wall Street. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 5.4 basis points at 2.984 percent.

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