Dow is flat as June rally pauses, Nasdaq-100 hits record high

FAN Editor

Stocks were little changed on Thursday as Wall Street grappled with disappointing jobs data and more central bank stimulus after a blistering rally to start off the month. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average hovered around the flatline while the S&P 500 dipped 0.3%. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.4%.

Earlier in the session, the Nasdaq-100 index, which is made up of the 100-largest nonfinancial stocks in the Nasdaq Composite, hit an intraday record. 

From Feb. 19 to March 23, the Nasdaq-100 plummeted more than 30%. Since then, however, the index has skyrocketed more than 43%. Traders follow the Nasdaq-100 as it’s the benchmark for the Invesco QQQ Trust ETF, which was up by 0.2% and is often among the top-traded securities on a daily basis. 

Amazon, PepsiCo, Costco and PayPal are among the stocks that drove the Nasdaq-100 back to record highs from its late-March low. Amazon shares have rallied more than 30% since March 23 while PepsiCo is up 26%. Costco has gained over 8% in that time and PayPal is up more than 85%.

Jobless claims data worse than forecast

The Labor Department said 1.877 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, topping a Dow Jones estimate of 1.775 million. Continuing jobless claims rose sharply, nearly reaching 21.5 million. The data was released a day ahead of the department’s monthly jobs report. 

Wall Street came into Thursday’s session riding strong gains through the first three days of June as investors were hopeful the economy will recover from the coronavirus-induced slowdown. Through the month’s first three sessions, the Dow was up nearly 3.5% while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 were both up at least 2%. 

“May could well end up being the turning point for the viral crisis. The month ended with the virus seemingly under control and with the economy reopening faster than expected,” wrote Brad McMillan, chief investment officer at Commonwealth Financial Network. “June will tell us whether that trend continues. But right now? Things look much better than we could have expected a month ago.”

Shares of companies that benefit from the economy recovering outperformed on Thursday. American Airlines rallied more than 14%. JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Bank of America advanced more than 1% each. MGM Resorts gained 2.2%.

More ECB stimulus

Central banks and governments around the world have taken measures to cushion the economic blow from the coronavirus pandemic, making riskier assets such as equities more attractive to investors.

On Thursday, the European Central Bank said it will increase its Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme by 600 billion euro, bringing the program’s total to more than 1 trillion euro.

The market is “focusing on signs that a reopening recovery—juiced by federal spending and monetary easing—is taking hold,” said Ed Yardeni, president and chief investment strategist at Yardeni Research. “The market is treating the recent calamity as if it were a natural disaster rather than a severe recession.”

Since March 23, the S&P 500 has surged more than 42% while the Dow has gained over 43% in that time period. The Nasdaq Composite is up more than 46% since hitting its late-March low.

“The market is trading on extreme optimism like I’ve never seen in my career,” said Phil Blancato, CEO of Ladenburg Thalmann Asset Management. “I’ve never seen the market trade on this kind of euphoria without real data to back it up.”

“We’re looking at the worst data in our lifetime. Yet, here we are at all-time highs,” Blancato added. “Those two don’t normally go together. The market either knows something we don’t or we’re trading on extreme optimism.”

CNBC’s Gina Francolla contributed reporting.

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