After Record Monday, Traders Count Winnings
Futures for U.S. stock markets indicated that traders are taking a breather after Monday's record session. Both Friday's cheerful job news and Sunday's Japanese election results that keep pro-growth Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in power fueled the buying.
The S&P500 was unchanged, while the Nasdaq was up a slight 0.04% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up a smaller 0.02% at 9:21 p.m. EDT.
The lackluster figures come after the S&P on Monday closed at a record high and both the Nasdaq and the Dow set fresh 52-week peaks. Traders are looking forward to the looming earnings season with optimism after the June jobs report showed 237,000 new positions were filled in the month, well above the expected 180,000.
The cheery buoyant mood is underscored by signs Abe will keep his job and continue to push Japanese companies to look for ways to grow, often by making acquisitions abroad. And, another point to remember is that traders also rewarded Nintendo (NTDOY) for creating the wildly popular Pokemon Go smartphone game that has players wandering city streets looking for rewards. Its New York ADRs closed 33.6% higher Monday.
The S&P closed 0.34% higher at 2,137.16, a record, while the Dow ended Monday at 18,226.93, 0.44% higher and Nasdaq finished the day 0.64% up at 4,988.64. The Dow's all-time high of 18,288.63 was reached in March 2015 while the Nasdaq peaked at 5,210.14 last July.
The momentum started in Europe where the Continent finally had good day after its gloomy first two weeks following the startling Brexit vote. London's FTSE closed 1.4% higher while Germany's Dax gained 2.1%. In Paris, the bourse closed unchanged.
The pound also recovered from its troughs of the previous week below $1.2850 to change hands at $1.3039 at 8:58 p.m. EDT.
And even oil was in the green Monday evening with industry standard Brent crude gaining 0.35% to $46.41 for a barrel delivered in September. West Texas crude gained 0.25% to $44.87 for August delivery.
The good mood carried over to Japan, where the Nikkei opened an impressive 3.1% higher and the Hang Seng 0.59%.
In some of the first earnings news, aluminum maker Alcoa (AA) - Get Report Monday after the close said net income slipped 3.6% in the second quarter to $135 million as aluminum prices fell. Sales declined 10% in the second quarter over the same period a year earlier to $5.3 billion. Despite the declines, the figures beat Wall Street expectations, leading investors to boost the shares 3.7% to $10.51 in extended trading after a 3.3% increase in regular trading.
Tesla (TSLA) - Get Report wasn't so lucky in extended trading after the SEC reportedly began investigating the electric carmaker over a recent fatal accident. The stock pared 1.1% to $222.30. The SEC wouldn't comment on a Dow Jones report it was looking at why the company told the National Transportation Safety Board about the May fatal accident involving one of its cars in autopilot mode, but not its investors.