Stocks rose mostly higher throughout Monday's session, but closed mixed. The S&P 500 briefly touching above its all-time closing high, but falling before closing bell. The Nasdaq, however, continued its steady outperformance, closing at a new record high due to the ongoing mega-cap tech rally--Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Facebook (NASDAQ: FB), Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), and Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX)--as well as Tesla's (NASDAQ: TSLA) Monday surge ahead of its 5-for-1 stock split. The Dow Jones was the only major market index that closed in the negative.
Meanwhile, the National Association of Home Builders' sentiment index rose to 78 in August, as sector optimism surrounding business reopenings and low interest rates has ignited a surge in housing market activity. August's reading was both above consensus estimates and the neutral level of 50, thus reflecting overall positive sentiment from home builders. The data drove home builder stocks like D.R. Horton (NYSE: DHI), Lennar (NYSE: LEN), and PulteGroup (NYSE: PHM) higher on Monday.
Here's how the market settled to start the week:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): +0.27% or +9.19 points to 3,382.04
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): -0.31% or -85.77 points to 27,845.25
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): +1.00% or +110.42 points to 11,129.73
For Major Stock News, Barrick Gold (NYSE: GOLD) soared nearly 12% following Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway's (NYSE: BRK.A) new stake in the gold miner. The decision also lifted rivals like Freeport-McMoran (NYSE: FCX) and Newmont Corporation (NYSE: NEM). The newly public Rackspace Technology (NASDAQ: RXT) rose after Reuters' sources claimed that Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) may be taking a minority stake in the cloud services company. Coronavirus vaccine developer CureVac (NASDAQ: CVAC) rallied again on Monday following its blockbuster public debut last week.
For Sector Performance, industries remained split on Monday, with Financials -1.54%, Energy -0.63%, Industrials -0.50% and Utilities -0.14% falling behind the broader market. The sector performance increases were as follows: Consumer Discretionary +1.21%, Real Estate +0.89%, Information Technology +0.67%, Health Care +0.58%, Consumer Staples +0.56%, Materials +0.38%, Communication Services +0.10%.
For Commodities and Currency, the U.S. Dollar (NYSE: UUP) hit another low point on Monday as investment sentiment towards U.S. economic recovery remains mixed. The dollar pushed 0.16% lower against other global currencies during normal trading on Monday. Gold (NYSE: GLD) prices soared toward their $2,000 heights on the back of a weaker dollar. Spot gold rose 1.9% to $1,981.41 per ounce, while futures settled up 2.5% to $1,998.70 per ounce. Crude oil prices also increased on Monday, with Brent Crude (NYSE: BNO) gaining 1.3% to settle at $45.37 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (NYSE: USO) climbed 2.09% to close at $42.89 per barrel.
For Tuesday, earnings season may be slowing down, but investors will focus on fresh quarterly reports from retail giants like Home Depot (NYSE: HD) and Walmart (NYSE: WMT).