Wall Street Close: Bulls return on upbeat earnings, data

• US equity benchmarks post gains amid strong company results, firmer US data.
• Stimulus hopes battle covid concerns, pre-NFP caution and geopolitical risks.
• Under Armour, Ralph Lauren lead the earnings beat, IPG Photonics bucks the trend.
• Apple pleases bulls with multiple announcements relating to product offerings.

Shares in the US reversed the previous day’s losses, actually added more, by the end of Tuesday’s North American trading session. While mildly positive sentiment could be linked to Wall Street’s positive performance, welcome results and US data also favored the bulls.

Read: Forex Today: Sentiment leads the way

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) added 0.80% or 278.24 points whereas S&P 500 marked 35.99 points of a daily gain, or 0.82% upside, by the press time. The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 0.55% or 80.20 points at the end of Tuesday’s trading.

Under Armour joined Ralph Lauren to post strong Q2 earnings whereas the IPG Photonic marked the heaviest drop among S&P 500 members after missing the market consensus and announcing a downbeat outlook. Apple acquired headlines with its hint to launch the buy-now-pay-later program in Canada, as well as likely price changes for in-App purchases and App-store products.

Elsewhere, firmer US Factory Orders and optimism over President Joe Biden’s infrastructure stimulus favored the bulls. On the same line was the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) historical allocation to the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) to battle the pandemic.

It’s worth noting that the jump in the US covid cases to the early February levels, per the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data, as well as the geopolitical jitters concerning Iran and China, challenge the bulls.

Amid these plays, US 10-year Treasury yields remain mostly unchanged around 1.17% after posting the lowest daily closing since February whereas the S&P Futures printing mild losses by the press time.

Looking forward, ISM Services PMI for July, expected 60.4 versus 60.1, coupled with the ADP Employment Change for the said month, market consensus 695K versus 692K prior, will be the key data to watch. However, the pre-NFP sentiment and risk catalysts will be more important to follow.