4.15pm: Dow reaches new record
Stocks finished higher on Monday as investors speculated that an assassination attempt on Donald Trump could boost his chances of winning the presidential election.
Trump announced Monday that he has chosen Ohio senator JD Vance as his running mate on the Republican ticket for November's election.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 0.4%, hitting a new all-time high of 40,212, while the S&P 500 closed at 5,631 for a 0.3% gain and the Nasdaq finished 0.4% higher at 18,473.
Strong second-quarter earnings from Goldman Sachs and BlackRock contributed to the positive market sentiment.
Meanwhile, bond yields climbed, the dollar strengthened, and bitcoin surged.
Shares of Trump Media & Technology also saw significant gains, ending the day over 30% higher.
12.15pm: Bank earnings help sentiment
Stocks were up at the midday point of trading on Monday as investors digested news of an assassination attempt on presidential candidate Donald Trump, which overshadowed the start of earnings season.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose approximately 0.7%, nearing a new all-time high, while the S&P 500 added 0.8% and the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.1%.
Second-quarter earnings reports from major banks like Goldman Sachs, which reported a 150% profit surge, and BlackRock, with record assets under management, buoyed market sentiment. However, attention was also on the potential market implications of the incident involving Trump, with bets increasing on his electoral prospects.
“All in all, even though the assassination incident on Trump was shocking – and spurred the worries of a deeply divided America where political violence is taking over – it boosted the chances that Trump will win the presidential election in November from 61% before the shooting to 67% after, according to PredictIt,” Ipek Ozkardeskaya, Senior Analyst at Swissquote Bank commented Monday. “And if history is any indication, such events have been a boon for a candidate in past elections.”
That said, markets will get back to focusing on earnings and Fed policy, according to Jay Woods, chief global strategist at Freedom Capital Markets (NASDAQ:FRHC).
“We are heading into a seasonal time where the markets tend to underperform. Given the recent rally in the indicies, a pullback would be normal,” Woods noted.
“However, every market move will be scrutinized and highlighted with a political backdrop that has reached a boiling point.”
Bond yields rose slightly, the dollar edged up, and bitcoin surged amid speculation surrounding a possible Trump victory in the upcoming election.
10.15am: Tech stocks lead the way
US stocks opened the week higher, in contrast to their European counterparts.
The Nasdaq Composite led the way, up 0.6%, with the Dow Jones and S&P 500 both up 0.5%.
Tesla is leading the risers among large caps, up over 5%, followed by Netflix at 2.5% and Apple at 1.9%.
Trump Media & Technology Group Corp (NASDAQ:DJT) was one of the most notable risers, up 30.7% in a reaction to the assassination attempt at the weekend.
9.15am: Empire State survey shows manufacturing output no longer falling
Futures for the Nasdaq 100 have eased a little, up 0.38% as we approach the opening bell, while Dow Jones futures are still up 0.5%.
The Empire State manufacturing index dipped to -6.6 in July, from -6.0, below the consensus forecast of -7.6.
Business activity continued to decline modestly in New York state, according to the July survey.
New orders remained steady, which along with small improvements in the shipments and employment components were more than offset by sharper declines in supplier delivery times and inventories.
"As usual, we caution against reading too much into single-month moves in the Empire State survey given its limited geographical coverage and small sample size," said economist Oliver Allen at Pantheon Macroeconomics.
"The regional Fed surveys are far more informative when averaged together, and the Empire survey is the first of five due over the next few weeks. But for what it is worth, the latest Empire survey paints a similar picture to the raft of other surveys that we have for June: manufacturing output is no longer falling, but it is not growing by very much either."
7.40am: Nasdaq and Dow Jones predicted to extend gains
US stock futures pointed to gains on Monday, continuing the positive momentum from the end of last week but with markets mulling the possible consequences of the shooting at Donald Trump rally.
Dow Jones futures were up 0.54%, Nasdaq 100 futures pointed to a 0.51% gain and those for the S&P 500 indicated an expected 0.42% increase.
This was in contrast with European stock markets, which were all in the red.
Tesla led the US tech mega-caps, up 3.7% premarket, with Super Micro Computer ahead 3.3%, Apple 2%, Nvidia 1.3% and AMD 1%.
Goldman Sachs rose 1% after reporting second-quarter results before the opening bell, showing earnings per share of $8.62 that beat Wall Street expectations.
BlackRock delivered an even stronger earnings beat but investors did not seem that interested.
Shares in Trump Media & Technology Group Corp (NASDAQ:DJT) surged 48% premarket after the assassination attempt on the former president at the weekend.
"The attempted assassination of Trump adds a new layer of complexity to an already tumultuous election season," said UBS.
"We have said that investors should not make major portfolio swings in response to campaign developments or in anticipation of any particular election result, and that applies in this case too."
In other news, Google parent company Alphabet Inc is in talks to buy cyber security startup Wiz for $23 billion, in what some analysts are describing as a smart move.