US open: Dow Industrials set for 70th record close of 2017
Wall Street's main market gauges are pushing further into record territory as investors grew increasingly hopeful that the US tax reform bill will be passed this week.
At 1734 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was ahead by 0.72% or 176.58 points at 24,828.57, alongside an advance of 0.69% or 18.38 points to 2,694.26 on the S&P 500 and a gain of 0.96% o 66.51 points to 7,003.12 for the Nasdaq Composite.
The former, James Hughes at Axi Trader pointed out, was on track for its 70th consecutive close of 2017.
Pacing gains were: Non-ferrous metals (4.65%), Aluminum (4.0%) and Coal (3.24%).
Hughes also observed that: "the passage of the bill is not yet a full gone conclusion, especially when talking about the murky world of US politics. The Democrats will be scrambling around desperately trying to turn Republican votes in their favor. Of course, all Democrats are united in their hatred for anything led by the Donald Trump administration, as well as by the feeling that thought of saving money for huge corporations and lining the pockets of America’s super-rich at the expense of every other hard working American.
"There is a fear in the wider financial world that the amendments to the bill at the last minute go even further to adding to the US’ already bulging national debt, and with the Fed warning that the impact of the Tax reform on the overall economy could be minimal, it’s clear that these fears have some impressive backers."
Expectations were that both chambers of the US Congress would vote on the bill by the middle of the week, with the proposed new legislation expected to be put on the president's desk to be signed before Christmas Day.
In other economic news, the NAHB's homebuilder confidence index jumped by three points to 73.0 (conensus: 70.0) - its highest level since July 1999.
In corporate news, shares of railroad company CSX were in the market spotlight following the death of chief executive officer E. Hunter Harrison on Saturday.
Elsewhere, share buyback announcements were again a salient feature of the market landscape at the start of the week.
Drug giant Pfizer unveiled a fresh $10bn share repurchase authorisation alongside a 6.3% hike to its quarterly cash dividend payout.
The news came alongside a similar announcement by Liberty Global of a $2bn stock repurchase programme.
Stock in Campbell Soup was in the black even after S&P downgraded its long-term debt rating to BBB following news that it would buy Snyder-Lance in a transaction said to be worth $4.87bn.
Hershey was also in focus after agreeing to buy Amplify Snack Brands for $12.00 per share. In parallel, Total Systems said it would buy payment technology form Cayan for $1.05bn.
Akamai Technologies was up sharply after activist hedge fund Elliott Management said on Friday that it had a 6.5% stake in the internet technology group.
Elsewhere, software company Oracle was in the black after announcing a $1.2bn deal to buy Australian project management software provider Aconex.
Shares of chip-manufacturer AMD were also on the front foot on the heels of an upgrade to 'neutral' out of analysts at Macquarie.
Dow Jones - Risers
Intel Corp. (INTC) $45.49 2.08%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $71.34 1.91%
American Express Co. (AXP) $100.05 1.55%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $185.27 1.47%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $176.45 1.43%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $260.58 1.33%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $121.01 1.07%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $148.25 1.06%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $98.07 0.99%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $127.29 0.89%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $110.39 -0.79%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $86.78 -0.08%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $64.78 -0.02%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $142.54 0.06%
Visa Inc. (V) $114.00 0.16%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $46.26 0.16%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $56.40 0.29%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $37.34 0.37%
3M Co. (MMM) $238.98 0.41%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $92.34 0.49%
S&P 500 - Risers
Akamai Technologies Inc. (AKAM) $65.79 13.90%
KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $111.15 5.23%
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (BBBY) $23.78 5.13%
FMC Technologies Inc. (FTI) $28.47 3.79%
Macy's Inc. (M) $25.52 3.77%
Centene Corp. (CNC) $98.23 3.55%
Southwestern Energy Co. (SWN) $5.29 3.52%
Synchrony Financial (SYF) $38.45 3.39%
Urban Outfitters Inc. (URBN) $33.82 3.17%
Alliance Data Systems Corp. (ADS) $247.40 3.17%
S&P 500 - Fallers
McKesson Corp. (MCK) $157.40 -3.20%
Hanesbrands Inc. (HBI) $20.81 -3.03%
SCANA Corp. (SCG) $43.26 -2.60%
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $107.33 -1.78%
Mattel Inc. (MAT) $15.22 -1.68%
XL Group Ltd (XL) $35.68 -1.57%
Humana Inc. (HUM) $249.77 -1.53%
NiSource Inc. (NI) $26.11 -1.51%
Cardinal Health Inc. (CAH) $62.25 -1.49%
Raytheon Co. (RTN) $188.70 -1.40%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Akamai Technologies Inc. (AKAM) $65.79 13.90%
KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $111.15 5.23%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $41.51 2.95%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $43.48 2.54%
Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $108.91 2.46%
PACCAR Inc. (PCAR) $70.86 2.46%
Marriott International - Class A (MAR) $132.82 2.31%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $45.49 2.08%
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. - Ordinary Shares (NCLH) $55.05 1.94%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $237.87 1.88%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $107.33 -1.78%
Symantec Corp. (SYMC) $28.58 -1.38%
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $95.29 -1.17%
Shire Plc Ads (SHPG) $149.74 -1.01%
Viacom Inc. Class B (VIAB) $29.97 -0.89%
Biogen Inc (BIIB) $325.05 -0.88%
Hasbro Inc (HAS) $93.48 -0.63%
CSX Corp. (CSX) $52.65 -0.54%
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (CTSH) $71.74 -0.48%
Celgene Corp. (CELG) $108.89 -0.48%