The Dow roared to a record close at the bell
Despite choppy trading for most of the day, all three major indexes scored record closes on the last trading day of the month. Wall Street ultimately shrugged off dismal earning reports from Apple (AAPL) and Amazon.com (AMZN) that dampened investor sentiment earlier in the day. The Dow spent the day exploring both sides of the breakeven, before eventually surging to an 89-point win and record closing high. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq also spent most of the day in the red before pivoting to fresh all-time highs, marking the latter's fifth-straight win. Apple's move lower also made way for Microsoft (MSFT) to become the largest listed company globally by market cap.
Regardless of today's mostly lackluster trading action, all three indexes nabbed their fourth-consecutive weekly wins, and each logged an impressive monthly pop as well, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq's best month of 2021. The Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) -- Wall Street's "fear gauge" -- eventually fell for the day, and clocked its biggest monthly drop since March.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- These pot stocks were in focus this week.
- Schaeffer's Senior Market Strategist Matthew Timpane breaks down what's next for small caps.
- Plus, TXN's bull signal; a surging cloud stock; and options bulls circle a blue chip.
The Dow Jones Average (DJI - 35,819.56) added 89.1 points or 0.3% for the day. Microsoft (MSFT) paced the gainers with a 2.3% rise, while Apple (AAPL) fell to the bottom, shedding 1.8%. For the week, the Dow added 0.4%, and it rose 5.8% for the month.
The S&P 500 Index (SPX - 4,605.38) added nearly 9 points, or 0.2% for the day, while the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC - 15,498.39) tacked on 50.3 points, or 0.3% for the day. The former rose 1.3% for the week, and 6.9% for the month, and the latter tacked on 2.7% for the week, and 7.3% for the month.
Lastly, the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX - 16.26) lost 0.3 point, or 1.6% for the day and 29.7% for the month, but tacked on 5.4% for the week, snapping a three-week skid.
- The Supreme Court is readying to hear oral arguments regarding restrictive abortion laws in Texas and the Second Amendment's right to publically carry a gun. Whole Woman's Health v. Jackson and United States v. Texas will take place on Monday, and New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v Bruen will take place two days later next week. (CNBC)
- Gas prices in the San Francisco metro area just it a new record high of $4.75 per gallon, according to data from fuel savings platform GasBuddy. (MarketWatch)
- A look at this drinkware stock's notable recovery.
- Can Aflac stock recover from its quarterly revenue miss?
- The Tesla competitor hitting multi-month highs.
Oil Snaps Nine-Week Win Streak
Oil prices finally snapped their nine-week win streak, but settled the day with a muted gain. The nine-week win streak marks the commodity's longest on record, as demand remains high December-dated crude added 76 cents, or 0.9% to settle at $83.57 a barrel. It lost 0.2% for the week, but wound up with an 11% monthly win.
Gold settled back below the $1,800 mark today, settling with a daily and weekly loss, though inflation anxieties and pandemic-fueled fears drove the commodity to a monthly win. December-dated gold dropped $18.70 or, 1%, to settle at $1,783.90. It lost 0.7% for the week, but rose 1.5% for the month, marking its biggest one-month jump since July.