FILE PHOTO: Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., August 27, 2021. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File photo
September 13, 2021
By Stephen Culp
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The S&P 500 ended higher on Monday, snapping a five-day losing streak as investors focused on potential corporate tax hikes and upcoming economic data.
While the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced on the day, market leading tech and tech-adjacent shares pulled the Nasdaq Composite Index into the red.
Investors favored value over growth, with stocks set to benefit most from a resurging economy enjoying the biggest percentage gains.
“There are probably not a lot of positive surprises coming this month,” said Liz Young, head of investment strategy at SoFi in New York. “We’re having another period of volatility where I think that rotation could go back to cyclicals and the reopened trade, as the 10-year bond rate slowly grinds higher through the end of the year.”
Market participants are focused on the likely passage of U.S. President Joe Biden’s $3.5 trillion budget package, which is expected to include a proposed corporate tax rate hike to 26.5% from 21%.
Goldman Sachs analysts see the corporate tax rate increasing to 25% and the passage of about half of a proposed increase to tax rates on foreign income, which they estimate would reduce S&P 500 earnings by 5% in 2022.
The Labor Department is due to release its consumer price index data on Tuesday, which could shed further light on the current inflation wave and whether it is as transitory as the Fed insists.
“I don’t see inflation settling back down under 2% where it was pre-pandemic,” Young added. “Even if some of those transitory forces weaken, we will still stay at a higher rate than we were before.”
Other key indicators due this week include retail sales and consumer sentiment, which could illuminate how much the demand boom driven by economic re-engagement has been dampened by the highly contagious COVID-19 Delta variant.
Unofficially, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 265.27 points, or 0.77%, to 34,872.99, the S&P 500 gained 10.49 points, or 0.24%, to 4,469.07 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 7.89 points, or 0.05%, to 15,107.61.
Shares of vaccine makers Moderna and Pfizer Inc sank after experts said COVID booster shots are not widely needed.
Coinbase Global Inc slid following its announcement that it intends to raise about $1.5 billion through a debt offering aimed at funding product development and potential acquisitions.
Salesforce.com Inc dipped as rival Freshworks Inc’s regulatory filing indicated that the business engagement and customer engagement software company is aiming for a nearly $9 billion valuation in it U.S. debut.
(Reporting by Stephen Culp; Additional reporting by Krystal Hu in New York and Ambar Warrick in Bengaluru; Editing by Richard Chang)
