US Stocks Surge

eric-gerster-US-stock-marketThe first weeks of June were tough on U.S. financial markets. Ambivalence over Greece and its ability to handle debt plans with the European Union, as well as slumps in the technology and financial sectors caused major losses in the first days of the month. But on June 10th, American markets saw a sharp rise delivering the biggest one-day gain in over a month since the market’s’ last peak on May 8th.

The blue chips of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) posted the biggest one-day point and percentage gain since the first week of May, rebounding from this early June slump. The DJIA rose 236.36 (1.33%) points to close at 18000.40, with a peak of 18037.65 points before midday. Similarly, the S&P 500 index rose 25.05 points (1.2%) closing at 20105.20 points while the Nasdaq Composite Index saw an addition of 62.82 points, a 1.25% increase, closing at 5076.69.

From the opening bell, stocks began posting major gains throughout the morning and, along with that, the markets witnessed higher trading volume than in previous recent sessions. However, it should be noted that trading volume is still well below the yearly average, showing that either some investors were caught off guard or some are still holding back and waiting for better signals.

These gains have been attributed to several events, including positive signals about Greece’s financial talks with the European Central Bank and large gains in the technology and financial sector following multiple low-performing sessions. The biggest gainers for technology stocks were Visa Inc., followed by Microsoft Corp for the Dow Jones while the S&P 500 Information Technology index climbed 1.6%. That would make it the S&P 500 IT index’s first gain in four sessions. For financial institutions, the expectation of rising interests rates was enough to boost the KBW Nasdaq Regional Banking index 1.5%, an all-time high.

Thank you for reading,

Eric Gerster