The US stock market is celebrating. An exceptional week on Wall Street for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq
Progress on ending the conflict in the Middle East caused the value of risky financial assets to rise again on Friday, extending a rally that – as Bloomberg reports – amounted to the S&P 500 index to a new record and contributed to its largest monthly gain since 2020.
The S&P 500 index was above 7,100 points for the first time in history, and the technological Nasdaq has recorded its longest upward streak since 1992.
S&P 500 and Nasdaq at new records
Index S&P 500 (Standard & Poor's 500) is one of the most important stock market indices in the world, covering approximately 500 of the largest companies listed in the United States. It is market capitalization weighted, which means that larger companies have a greater impact on its value. This index reflects the condition of the broad US stock market and covers approximately 80%. total capitalization of US public companies, which is why it is often treated as a barometer of the entire US economy.
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In turn, the index Nasdaq Composite covers almost all companies listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange, i.e. several thousand companies, including many technology enterprises. It is also a capitalization-weighted index, but its structure is strongly focused on the new technology sector, which makes it more volatile than the S&P 500. Due to the large presence of IT companies and innovative enterprises, the Nasdaq Composite is often perceived as an indicator of the health of the technology sector and growth companies.
The Dow Jones Industrial is at 49,447.43 points at the close of the week. The S&P 500 has a value of 7,126.06 points, and the Nasdaq Composite increased to 24,468.48 points.
Bloomberg points out that it took the S&P 500 just three weeks to rally from its wartime low to its all-time high. According to Asym 500's Rocky Fishman, the rebound from the late March low to record highs has happened faster than ever.
Wall Street is less afraid. The risk index drops sharply
In turn, the Bank of America Corp. intermarket risk index.which measures price turbulence in global stock, interest rate, currency and commodity markets, is heading for the second-fastest monthly decline on recordand the faster decline occurred only in the early stage of economic recovery after the pandemic.
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Bloomberg, in the context of record stock valuations on Wall Street, points out that when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, global stocks fell by only 0.6%, and the S&P 500 index gained 1.5%. Two notable exceptions – 1973 and 1990 – involved long-term disruptions in oil supplies. Whether this war joins that short list depends on what happens over the next few weeks.
