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Small-Caps, Energy Win the Trading Day

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Markets closed higher for the third time in the past four sessions, with the Nasdaq putting up its single-best trading day for nearly a month: +2.32%, or 257.47 points to 11.332.49. The S&P 500 gained 1.8%, +60.18 points to 3408.57, while the Dow rose 1.68%, +465.77 points to 28.148.58 — hitting its highest peak since September 3rd. But the small-cap Russell 2000 won the day, +2.75%. up 42.42 points to 1581.82.

The Energy sector was one of the biggest winners on the day, coming after weeks of hard-hit commodity prices finally getting a little traction. There is also home heating season coming or already here for much of the U.S., which tends to drive oil and gas prices higher. Tech was also a leading sector, keeping its advancements out front and speculation on their effectiveness even further.

Positive sentiment on Covid treatment — and even a potential vaccine somewhere down the road — boosted companies like BioNTech (BNTX - Free Report) up 9%, Regeneron (REGN - Free Report) up 7% and Novavax (NVAX - Free Report) up 6%. This positive sentiment rests largely on President Trump’s announcement that he will be leaving Walter Reed this evening, not three days since being helicoptered in following receiving an experimental cocktail injection at the White House.

 

Doctors have said they will administer one more dose of Gilead’s antiviral remdesivir before leaving the hospital. But a press conference earlier today ended with several questions unanswered, such as the president’s viral load and when his last negative Covid test results occurred.

There also seems to be a growing belief that, regardless who will controls the two Houses of Congress and the White House after the General Election November 3rd, that there will be some sort of monetary stimulus coming to assist Americans and their businesses. The House passed a $2.2 trillion bill Friday, which was expected to be ignored by the Senate, which it was. But the two sides continue to have talks, as the weeks leading up to the election are crucial to demonstrate each side is toiling on behalf of the American people.

Tomorrow morning, we will get a new release from the U.S. Trade Balance for August. The July read registered the deepest monthly deficit since the years leading up to the Great Recession more than a decade ago, as -$63.6 billion. For most of the past 10 years, we’d seen the trade deficit hover around the -$40 billion mark; the all-time low came in 2006, at -$68.28 billion. With historically low interest rates, deep deficits like these don’t seem quite so dangerous. But what about when our economy turns around? How deep will our trade balance be then?

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