U.S. stocks rose about 1% on Friday with the tech-heavy Nasdaq hovering near a fresh record high on hopes of a recovery in post-COVID-19-pandemic economic activity. The Nasdaq opened above its all-time closing high on June 10, lifted by shares of the largest U.S. companies by market capitalization, Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon.
“We expect the overshoot in equities to continue, driven by the very aggressive monetary policy easing, fiscal expansions and the continued reopening of the global economy with some temporary setbacks,” said Sebastien Galy, senior macro strategist at Nordea Asset Management.
Risk of a resurgence of the virus outbreak prompting another round of restrictive measures has led to choppy trading sessions this week. However, the S&P 500 and the Dow are headed for their fourth weekly rise in five following a strong retail sales report and signs of additional official stimulus.
Markets are likely to become more volatile during Friday’s session on account of “quadruple witching,” as investors unwind interests in futures and options contracts prior to expiration.
MacDailyNews Note: Admin economic recovery hopes, shares of Apple earlier in trading today rose to set a new all-time intraday record high of $356.56.