U.S. stocks gained for a second day on Tuesday as investors piled into reopening trades amid optimism about an economic recovery.
The S&P 500 added 0.1%, on pace for back-to-back gains for the major benchmark which has stalled out as of late. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded flat.
Airlines and cruise lines led the market higher. United Airlines jumped 3% after the carrier said yields on domestic leisure tickets purchased this month topped 2019 levels amid the reopening. Boeing also gained 1.7%. Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean rose more than 4% each.
Bitcoin’s recent rout, which has hit tech stocks like Tesla and dented overall investor sentiment, stabilized on Monday. The cryptocurrency was back near $38,000 early Tuesday after falling below $32,000 at one point on Sunday. Crypto prices rebounded as Elon Musk said he was having discussions with bitcoin miners regarding sustainability.
Tesla, a big holder of bitcoin, was flat in morning trading. Crypto-exchange Coinbase gained 2.5% with the shares also getting a boost from a JPMorgan buy call.
Big Tech shares Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Netflix, Nvidia, and Alphabet were all higher.
The major averages rose on Monday, led by tech stocks and companies that benefit from a strong reopening from the pandemic as Covid cases dropped to their lowest level since June. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 186 points, helped by gains in Microsoft, Salesforce and Cisco.
The S&P 500 climbed 1%. The Nasdaq Composite was the relative outperformer, jumping 1.4% as Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google-parent Alphabet posted gains. The small-cap benchmark Russell 2000 climbed 0.5%.
Monday “was driven by inflation anxiety relief,” Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at the Leuthold Group, told CNBC. “Evidence that inflation fears were calming in the bond and commodity markets began to drive the stock market late last week and has continued into today.”
“Growth stocks including technology have regained leadership as yield and inflation fears ease,” Paulsen added.
After Monday’s gain, the S&P 500 is now in the green for the month of May. The S&P 500 is down only about 1% from its record hit earlier this month before a pullback.
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