The S&P 500 is headed toward its sixth-straight monthly win
The major indexes were all over the place this week, with eyes on a slew of Big Tech earnings reports and the two-day Federal Reserve policy meeting, which began on Tuesday. On Monday, Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI), S&P 500 index (SPX) and Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) all eked out record closing highs, as well as their fifth-straight wins. By Tuesday, however, things quieted on Wall Street, with all three indexes snapping their former win streak. The Nasdaq was climbing back up the charts the next day, though, with several FAANG names entering the earnings confessional and a Fed decision to keep interest rates near zero. On Thursday markets saw a strong finish, brushing off disappointing jobs and gross domestic product data. While stocks are taking a breather today, all three indexes are headed for weekly and monthly wins, with the S&P 500 set to notch its sixth-straight monthly gain.
FAANG Earnings Roll Call
Wall Street had a deluge of FAANG earnings to pore over this week, and while results were mostly upbeat, response was mixed. Apple (AAPL) and Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) both entered the earnings confessional mid-week with a positive response from the brokerage bunch, though the former took a breather after its report and the latter surged to a fresh record high. Facebook (FB), meanwhile, was slammed after its monthly active user growth fell severely below analysts' estimates. Amazon.com (AMZN) also took a breather before earnings, and was in the spotlight earlier this week, too, after rumors swirled that the e-commerce giant may start accepting cryptocurrency.
Stocks Set to Surge Next Month
Several equities this week were flashing historically bullish signals that could point to growth, as investors head into the month of August. Semiconductor name United Microelectronics (UMC) pulled back to a trendline that's helped launch the stock higher in the past, while Crowdstrike's (CRWD) recent high, paired with historically low implied volatility (IV), suggests its recent pullback could be short-lived. Surging Infosys (INFY) has also taken a step back, but there's plenty of reason to believe fresh highs could be in the tech stock's future as well.
Energy, Tech Stocks Headline Earnings Season as August Kicks Off
August will kick off with the final earnings-heavy week of the quarter with plenty of big names on deck, specifically in the energy and tech space. This list includes Alibaba (BABA), Amgen (AMGN), BP (BP), Clorox (CLX), CVS Health (CVS), DraftKings (DKNG), Electronic Arts (EA), Eli Lilly (LLY), Etsy (ETSY), Lyft (LYFT), Occidental Petroleum (OXY), Plug Power (PLUG), Roku (ROKU), and Uber (UBER). Additionally, a slew of monthly jobs data, and the final Markit manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) for July will be due out.
In the meantime, check out our latest Monday Morning Outlook, in which Senior V.P. of Research Todd Salamone speculates over which SPX support and resistance levels investors should monitor next. Plus, Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White breaks down the differences and methodologies between two investor sentiment surveys.