S&P 500 Snaps Losing Streak as Energy Boost Coaxes Bulls From Hiding

© Reuters.

By Yasin Ebrahim

AiVIF.com – The S&P 500 rose on Wednesday, as a red-hot rally in energy stocks paved the way for the broader market to end its streak of daily losses.

The S&P 500 rose 0.9% to snap a six-day losing streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.7%, or 236 points, the Nasdaq climbed 0.8%.

Energy rallied more than 3% as data showing a larger-than-expected draw in weekly U.S. crude inventories eased investor fears about the virus impact on energy demand.

Crude oil inventories fell by 6.4 million barrels last week, compared with analysts' expectations for a draw of 3.5 million barrels.

The sharp jump in oil prices comes just days after OPEC+ increased production by 400,000 barrels per day.

Cabot Oil & Gas (NYSE:COG), Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY), and EOG Resources (NYSE:EOG) were among the top gainers in energy, with the latter up ending the day up more than 8%.

Megacap tech stocks shrugged off their early-day malaise to end mostly higher, despite rising Treasury yields, the enemy of growth stocks.

Google-parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) were higher. Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) proved an exception to the broader market climb.  

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) was the standout performer, up more than 1%, after hiking its dividend and announcing the $60 billion stock buyback program.

Casino stocks were on the backfoot on reports China is looking to strengthen regulatory oversight in the Asian gambling mecca of Macau.

Melco Resorts & Entertainment (NASDAQ:MLCO) slumped 14%, Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ:WYNN) fell 6%, and Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) was down about 2%.

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA), meanwhile, released more data on so-called breakthrough cases of Covid-19, which it said supported the need for another round of the vaccinations. 

On the economic front, investors digested mixed economic data as manufacturing activity fell short of expectations, while industrial production was in-line with economists forecasts.

“Demand is very high for a variety of goods in short supply, but manufacturers cannot keep up with demand due to a shortage of materials,” Jefferies (NYSE:JEF) said in a note.

The move higher in the broader market comes as investors eye progress on President Joe Biden’s infrastructure spending plan.

Biden is expected to meet with holdout Democratic Senators Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema at the White House on Wednesday. Both Manchin and Senema favor trimming the proposed $3.5 trillion budget plan.