Stock Market
U.S Stocks post gains, led by Apple, Oracle
The tech-heavy Nasdaq ended its two-day losing streak, as deal activity lifted sentiment on the sector.
U.S Stocks rallied higher at the most recent trading session, led by big tech brands (Apple & Oracle), as positive macros on the COVID-19 vaccine prompted long bets on U.S stocks.
Oracle Corporation stock price gained 4.32%, as the tech firm appeared to be the chosen partner for TikTok business in the U.S. ByteDance. The owners of TikTok, had earlier disclosed that it preferred to partner, rather than sell, TikTok’s U.S. business, rejecting an offer for outright sale from Microsoft.
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Microsoft’s stock price ended slightly higher at 0.68%. Apple Inc was up by more 3%, while the stock price of Facebook; Alphabet, owners of Google; and Amazon.com ended the trading session bearish.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.18%, and the S&P 500 was up by 1.27%, while the Nasdaq Composite (comprising of tech heavy-weights) gained 1.87%.
READ: Nigerian billionaires lose billions amid COVID-19 pandemic
The tech-heavy Nasdaq ended its two-day losing streak, as deal activity lifted sentiment on the sector.
Stephen Innes, Chief Global Market Strategist at AxiCorp, in a note to Nairametrics, spoke on the fundamentals that keeps stock traders hopeful.
“Even though the Feds are unlikely to go full tilt, there is sufficient policy juice in the tank, not to mention what’s in reserve to keep the market humming along quite well,”
READ: Apple becomes world’s largest public listed company, valued at $1.82 trillion
“Despite the sharp sell-off last week, investors remain optimistic about the US equity market’s path in the coming months,”
“Economic data points to a continued recovery, while further reopening and vaccine progress will likely set the wheels in motion for another move higher in stocks.”
Investors should expect markets to remain volatile in the short-term, but the recent setback is hardly a cause for panic, especially since some of the tech giants have recently reached dizzying heights.
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Stock Market
S&P 500 futures suffer longest run of losses since February
Futures contracts on the S&P 500 Index plunged by 1.4% at the time this report.
U.S. Stock futures started the trading week on a bearish footing, signaling losses at the opening U.S trading session on Monday. U.S stocks were hit by growing concern about new restrictions triggered by rising COVID-19 cases.
What we know; Futures contracts on the S&P 500 Index plunged by 1.51% at the time this report was drafted, pointing to a fourth straight daily decline, the longest stretch of losses for the gauge since the end of February.
Contracts on the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq 100 fell 1.85% and 1.5%, respectively.
Quick fact; American Stock futures are simply standardized contracts that global traders use in purchasing or selling the U.S stock in a future date. This means that the U.S stock futures give an insight into what global investors see before the market opens, or after it close
Stephen Innes, Chief Global Market Strategist at AxiCorp, in a note to Nairametrics spoke on the prevailing fundamentals, giving stock bears an edge. Stock futures opened uncertain as investors remain confused about which way to move this morning as lockdown fears take charge with the UK government sounding alarm bells as the Covid-19 curve moves in the wrong direction.
After the initial economic bounce from full-blown lockdowns, both the UK and Europe’s economic trajectory could be entering a gloomy second phase characterized by ongoing social distancing, elevated unemployment, and increasing damage to the supply side.
(READ MORE: Nigerian Stocks on a 3-day losing streak, triggered by Dangote Sugar, Ecobank)
He also spoke on the parabolic nature of the world’s largest equity market, as the U.S election sets in, by saying;
“However, they remain weighed down by a drip-feed of negativity around Covid-19 resurgence, US fiscal impasse and as the market starts to factor in US election risk in earnest. Retail and hedge funds bought the initial Nasdaq dip after the September 2 carnage. But since then, there has been a noticeable shift in trading behavior where bounces are quickly faded.”
Political tensions also making global investors shaky as Democrats and Republicans prepare to fight over who will be the next Supreme Court justice.
Market Views
How Apple lost over $500 billion in 12 trading days
Apple has lost about 22.6% from its intraday record high of $137.98 recorded on September 2.
In Issac Newton’s words, “what goes up usually comes down”. In Apple’s case, it took about 12 trading sessions for the world’s most valuable listed company by market value (Apple Inc) to lose more than $500 billion in market capitalization, showing a whooping decline of more than 20%.
The tech juggernaut has plunged about 22.6% from its intraday record high of $137.98 recorded on September 2 losing about $532 billion in market value.
Why it’s happening; Apple’s fast and whooping fall followed its massive run-up in August ahead of its 4-for-1 stock split, while record losses also came as Apple’s recent product event disappointed many investors and its fans globally.
Toni Sacconaghi, senior research analyst at Bernstein in a note to CNBC, called the event “relatively underwhelming.”
“We believe it could be difficult to move users from competitive music, video, or gaming services, where they are often entrenched,” Sacconaghi said in a note. “We continue to believe that Apple should look to more creatively bundle its hardware + services into integrated subscription bundles.”
Sequel to Apple’s recent fall, Nairametrics about a month ago broke the news showing how the tech juggernaut crossed the $2 trillion mark in market valuation – the first company in the world to achieve this feat.
Apple was also the first company to cross the $1 trillion market capitalization mark.
Apple became the first company to cross $2 trillion after riding on a wave of positive market sentiments that has trailed the United States since the Trump Administration pumped in trillions in stimulus in response to the Covid-19 pandemic that shut down the economy of the richest country in the world.
That said, the fall of Apple’s share price in recent days came amid a significant sell-off in the tech sector as stock traders shifted out of the market-leading high-flyers. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite had dropped into correction territory, down more than 10% from its record high.
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