Wall Street closes at new record highs amid upbeat car sales data
After starting the day slightly higher, major equity indexes in the U.S. extended their upside to fresh record highs led by robust gains seen in the shares of car manufacturers.
General Motors' shares and Ford's shares gained more than 3% and 2% respectively after the vehicle sales data came in higher than market expectations as consumers looked to replace their damaged cars after hurricanes Irma and Harvey. Commenting on the recent record-setting rally, "we're seeing moves into economically sensitive stocks, which is an indication that investors believe some of the favorable economic data that's coming out. At the same time, investors, for whatever reason, are ignoring some of the things that have scared them in the recent past," Bucky Hellwig, senior vice president at BB&T Wealth Management in Birmingham, Alabama, told Reuters.
Moreover, airline stocks rose sharply led by Delta Air Lines Inc.'s more than 6% gain after the company reported a higher-than-expected growth in capacity and traffic.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 83.82 points, or 0.37%, to 22,641.42, the S&P 500 added 5.51 points, or 0.22%, to 2,533.49 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 15.35 points, or 0.24%, to 6,526.66.
DJI technical outlook
Valeria Bednarik, Chief Analyst at FXStreet, writes, "in the daily chart, technical indicators head sharply higher, with the RSI currently at 78, and with moving averages accelerating north below the current level. Shorter term, the index is also bullish and extremely overbought, with the RSI indicator currently heading north around 85, the Momentum also aiming higher, and the 20 SMA gaining further upward strength below the current level, currently at 22,481, in line with the longer-term perspective."
According to the analyst, supports for the index could be seen at 22,617, 22,581 and 22,557 while resistances align at 22,660, 22,700, 22,740.
Headlines from the NA session
- Market wrap: US dollar and US bond yields consolidated - Westpac
- Strong ISM but partly due to hurricanes - Danske Bank
- OPEC's Barkindo: We look to strengthen energy dialogue with Russia
- WTI consolidates above $50 ahead of API
- NFP Preview: Hurricanes likely pulled down jobs growth - Danske Bank
- USD keeps the bearish note medium term – TDS
- Fed’s Powell: Current capital standards in US ‘are about right’