US STOCKS-Tesla lifts Nasdaq to record high

Meta Materials

23/06/2021 19:49

(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock
markets, click LIVE/ or type LIVE/ in a news window.)
    * Tesla rallies after opening solar charging station 
    * Retail darlings Alfi, Torchlight extend declines
    * Indexes: Dow -0.07%, S&P 500 +0.07%, Nasdaq +0.21%      

 (Adds detail on stock moves, comment from investor)
    By Noel Randewich and Devik Jain
    June 23 (Reuters) - The Nasdaq rose to an all-time high on
Wednesday, fueled by a rally in Tesla Inc  TSLA.O , with
investors cheering data that showed a record peak for U.S.
factory activity in June.
    Gains of about 0.7% in Nvidia Corp  NVDA.O  and Facebook Inc
  FB.O  extended a recent rebound in top-shelf growth stocks
that fell out of favor in recent months as investors focused on
companies expected to do well as the economy recovers from the
pandemic.
    Data firm IHS Markit said its flash U.S. manufacturing
Purchasing Managers' Index rose to a reading of 62.6 this month,
beating estimates of 61.5, but manufacturers are still
struggling to secure raw materials and qualified workers,
substantially raising prices.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2O42C6
    The "high level of today's surveys will provide some
confirmation for the Fed that the time to begin taking its foot
off the accelerator is not far away," said Jai Malhi, global
market strategist at J.P. Morgan Asset Management.
    On Tuesday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell reaffirmed the central
bank's intent not to raise interest rates too quickly, based
only on the fear of coming inflation.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2O31WU
    Powell's comments follow the Fed's projection a week ago of
an increase in interest rates as soon as 2023, sooner than
anticipated. Since then, growth stocks, including major tech
names like Tesla and Nvidia, have mostly rallied and
outperformed value stocks, like banks and materials companies.
    "People are plowing money into what has worked. People are
basically momentum-chasing and they're using the last three
years of performance to figure out what to chase," said Mike
Zigmont, head of trading and research at Harvest Volatility
Management in New York.
    Six of the 11 major S&P sector indexes rose, led by a 0.7%
rise in financials  .SPSY .
    Tesla jumped 4.5% after the electric vehicle maker said it
had opened a solar-powered charging station with on-site power
storage in the Tibetan capital Lhasa, its first such facility in
China.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2O50WS
    At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average  .DJI  was down
0.07% at 33,922.86 points, while the S&P 500  .SPX  gained 0.07%
to 4,249.21.
    The Nasdaq Composite  .IXIC  added 0.21% to 14,282.84.
    Nikola Corp  NKLA.O  gained over 4% after the electric and
hydrogen vehicle maker said it is investing $50 million in
Wabash Valley Resources LLC to produce clean hydrogen in the
U.S. Midwest for its zero-emission trucks.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2O52UH
    Among so-called meme stocks, software firm Alfi Inc  ALF.O 
dropped 20% after more than doubling in value in the prior
session, while Torchlight Energy Resources Inc  TRCH.O  slumped
27%, tumbling for a second day after announcing an upsized stock
offering.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2O51YC  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2O42M6
    Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
1.58-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.57-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
    The S&P 500 posted 32 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 82 new highs and 23 new lows.

 (Reporting by Noel Randewich in Oakland, Calif., and Devik Jain
and Medha Singh in Bengaluru
Editing by Maju Samuel and Matthew Lewis)
 ((noel.randewich@tr.com
+1 (415) 677 2542, Twitter: @randewich))