Following an eventful surge in the market on Tuesday, where the Nasdaq Composite reached a historic high, the S&P and Nasdaq indices had a subdued morning today.
2021 has been a successful year for the Nasdaq, as it closed above 15,000 for the first time ever. This marks the 29th record closing for the Nasdaq this year, reflecting a solid 16% increase in its value. However, today, the market showed little activity with minimal changes in the indices.
This morning, both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq remained relatively unchanged, with insignificant gains or losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average experienced a slight 55-point dip, which contrasts with the gains from the previous day.
Encouraging news regarding the COVID-19 situation suggests that the worst of the delta variant surge might be receding, with slight decreases in positive cases observed in heavily affected states like Florida and Texas.
Fundstrat’s Tom Lee expressed optimism to clients stating, “The cadence of incoming data has improved in the past few days, the most notable being the apexing of COVID-19 cases in a number of states.”
S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite open flat a day after closing at records
— CNBC (@CNBC) August 25, 2021
Investors and analysts hold a positive outlook on their investments. Christopher Harvey, head of equity strategy at Wells Fargo Securities, raised the year-end target to 4,825, reflecting a 7.5% increase over the previous day’s closing.
Harvey mentioned in a note to clients, “Over the last 31 years, there have been nine instances where the S&P 500 had a price return of 10%+ in the first eight months of the year; over the next four months, the index averaged another +8.4%. None of these instances produced a negative return during those last four months.”
