U.S. stock futures inched higher Tuesday, putting major indexes on track to continue what’s been the longest winning streak in more than two years.
What’s happening
-
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average
YM00,
-0.03%
slipped 8 points to 36304 -
Futures on the S&P 500
ES00,
+0.05%
rose 3 points to 4697 -
Futures on the Nasdaq 100
NQ00,
+0.21%
gained 32 points, or 0.2%, to 16359
On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
rose 104 points, or 0.29%, to 36432, the S&P 500
SPX,
increased 4 points, or 0.09%, to 4702, and the Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
gained 11 points, or 0.07%, to 15982.
Though the advance was modest, the eighth straight gain for the S&P 500 was the longest since April 2019. The Dow industrials, the S&P 500, the Nasdaq Composite and the Russell 2000 all finished at record highs after the House of Representatives passed infrastructure spending legislation, that’s expected to be signed into law by President Joe Biden.
What’s driving markets
The term “melt up” is increasingly being used to describe the action in stocks.
“As scary as these heights feel, the market continues trading well. We’ve been solidly overbought for weeks, yet buyers keep throwing even more money at these record highs,” said Jani Ziedins, who authors the Cracked Market blog.
The Federal Reserve’s twice-a-year financial stability report said valuation measures are high across most asset classes. It noted that stock prices relative to earnings forecasts are at the upper end of its historical distribution, and the yields on Treasury securities, corporate bonds and leverage loans are at low levels relative to their history.
Traders will have to consider the possibility of a change in leadership at the Federal Reserve, after Bloomberg News reported that Fed. Gov Lael Brainard interviewed for the role currently being held by Jerome Powell. Powell’s still considered the front-runner to be re-nominated.
Producer price data highlights the day’s economic releases, with earnings from entertainment giant Walt Disney Co.
DIS,
coming after the close.
This post was originally published on Market Watch
