US stocks chalked a fresh record high on Monday as the “Trump trade” was back on and oil stocks were the main risers on renewed hopes OPEC will agree on supply curbs later this month.
The market bellwether S&P 500 marked a record high more than three months after the last one, as the index rose to hit an intraday high of 2,198.70, surpassing its previous record high of 2,193.81 on August 15. Donald Trumps electoral success nearly three weeks ago helped, but so too a rally in oil prices.
The S&P 500 closed up 0.8% at 2198.18 and led by oil stocks. Marathon Oil (NYSE:MPC) was the biggest riser of 8.9% to 47.17. The US oil benchmark WTI surged 4% to $47.49.
The S&P Midcap 400 ended up 0.7% at 1616 and led by Denbury Resources (NYSE:DNR) up 6.95% at 3.23.
The S&P Smallcap 600 closed up 0.4% at 806 and led by Headwaters Inc (NYSE:HW) after the construction group agreed to a takeover by Australia’s Boral.
The wider small-cap Russell 2000 ended up 0.5% at 1322 and Toronto’s TSX Composite added 1.2% to 15,039. It was the first time the Canadian ticker had breached 15,000 since June 2015, as oil prices buoyed the bourse.
Early trading
US shares opened higher on Monday buoyed by higher oil prices on rising hopes that the OPEC cartel will sign off a supply-cutting deal later this month.
The S&P 500 market bellwether was up 0.5% at 2193, reversing Friday’s falls.
Oil stocks led the gains, after oil prices pointed north on growing optimism that next week’s OPEC summit will deliver the much-anticipated supply cuts.
The US oil benchmark WTI was up 2.6% at $46.89.
Top riser was Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO), up 5.2% at $16.43, followed by Hess="" href="-##!##-/nyse:c/Citigroup-Inc./" nyse:hes="" rel="5906">nyse:c="" rel="6231" up="">Hess Corp (NYSE:HES) up 4.1% at $53.10.
The S&P Midcap 400 was up 0.5% at 1614 and led by Wpx Energy Inc (NYSE:WPX) up 5.4% at $13.33.
The S&P Smallcap 600 was up 0.2% at 804 and led by building and construction group Headwaters Inc (NYSE:HW) up 18.1% at $23.72 after the company accepted a takeover from Australia’s Boral Limited (ASX:BLD) for $24.25 per share in cash, representing an aggregate enterprise value of approximately $2.6bn.
Elsewhere, there were declines.
Citigroup (NYSE:C) on Monday announced plans to add to its existing shares buyback programme, the latest in a series of moves by the US bank to return cash to its shareholders.
The bank said it would increase its common stock repurchase programme by up to $1.75bn. This would be in addition to the $10.4bn in dividends and buybacks announced earlier in June.
However, Citi shares were down 0.4% at $55.26.
Meanwhile, Acorda Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ACOR) slid 6.6% to $19.90.
Pre-market they slid more than 10% after the drug maker announced that it plans to discontinue the development of Ampyra for post-stroke walking deficits (PSWD) due to inadequate efficacy observed from the unblinded BID study results.
“We are disappointed by this outcome. The study indicated there was activity related to walking in people with PSWD, as suggested by the prior Phase 2 study, but overall this was not sufficiently clinically meaningful,” said Ron Cohen, M.D., President and CEO of Acorda in a statement.
Pre-Open
US markets are set to get with the global trend and start the week on the front foot.
Spread betting quotes point to the S&P 500 opening at around 2,187, up five points or so, while the more narrowly-based Dow is seen opening at around 18,888, up 20 points.
Oil stocks could well lead the charge, as the crude price moves higher ahead of next week’s meeting of the oil producers’ cartel, Opec.
West Texas intermediate (WTI) for December delivery was up 79 cents at US$46.48 in electronic trading, after Russia’s leader, Vladimir Putin, lent his support to a production freeze.
“Comments from Iran’s oil ministers and Russian President Vladimir Putin on their optimism of Opec C agreeing to a proposed supply cut coupled with the Trump effect has renewed some investor attraction towards oil,” opined Lukman Otunuga, a research analyst at currency trading platform FXTM.
“While the abrupt short-term gains are undeniably impressive, WTI still remains dogged by the overwhelming oversupply woes. The current technical bounce could act as an opportunity for sellers to pounce if Opec repeats the events of Doha at the formal November meeting,” Otunuga said.
Doha was the site of an Opec meeting in April where another proposed oil production agreement fell through.
It’s looking fairly quiet on the corporate front, with investors likely to focus on updates from Tyson Foods Inc (NYSE:TSN), Jack In The Box Inc (NASDAQ:JACK) and Pal Alto Networks Inc (NYSE:PANW).
Tyson announced this morning that Donnie Smith will be stepping down as chief executive officer at the end of the year. He will be succeeded by company president Tom Hayes, who will continue in his current role as well.