S&P ends just shy of record as Nasdaq notches 33rd new high of 2020

Goldman Sachs says the S&P can rally 7% by year-end

U.S. equity markets picked up modest momentum in the final hour of trading, pushing the Nasdaq Composite to its 33rd record high of the year while the S&P 500 fell just short of its all-time peak.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
SP500 S&P 500 6048.27 +15.89 +0.26%

The benchmark S&P 500 gained 0.27% to 3,381.99, ending just below its record high of 3,386.15 as Goldman Sachs raised its yearend S&P 500 target by 20% to 3,600, citing stronger-than-expected U.S. growth helped by the firm’s belief at least one COVID-19 vaccine will be discovered by the end of the year.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
I:DJI DOW JONES AVERAGES 44910.65 +188.59 +0.42%
I:COMP NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX 19218.16623 +157.69 +0.83%

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 85 points or 0.31% and the Nasdaq Composite gained 1%, powered higher by names including Tesla Inc., which hit its own fresh peak.

Shares of Elon Musk's electric-car maker rallied after Wedbush Securities raised its price target to $1,900, up from $1,800, citing an acceleration of demand from China and potential “game changing” battery developments at an event next month.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
TSLA TESLA INC. 357.09 +11.93 +3.46%

Apple Inc. shares touched a record-high $464.35 before pulling back. The tech giant needs to reach $467.77 a share in order to become the first U.S. company with a $2 trillion market capitalization.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
AAPL APPLE INC. 239.59 +2.26 +0.95%
GOLD BARRICK GOLD CORP. 17.21 -0.28 -1.60%

Barrick Gold Corp. surged after a regulatory filing out Friday evening showed Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway established a position of nearly 21 million shares, worth $563 million. Berkshire also sold large portions of its stakes in JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co.

French drugmaker Sanofi SA agreed to buy U.S. cancer drug developer Principia Biopharma Inc. for $3.68 billion, or $100 per share, a 10% premium to Friday’s closing price.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
SNY SANOFI 47.96 -0.53 -1.09%
PRNB NO DATA AVAILABLE - - -
NVDA NVIDIA CORP. 138.63 +0.38 +0.27%

Chipmaker Nvidia Corp. is holding exclusive talks to buy SoftBank-backed British rival Arm that could value the company as high as 40 billion British pounds ($52.4 billion).

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
JD JD.COM INC. 37.47 +0.09 +0.24%

BIDEN MUM ABOUT TRUMP CRACKDOWN ON CHINESE STOCKS

Looking at earnings, JD.com beat on both the top and bottom lines as the company’s annual active customers rose 30% in the three months through June to 417.4 million.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
WMT WALMART INC. 92.64 +0.14 +0.15%
HD THE HOME DEPOT INC. 426.96 -2.17 -0.51%
KSS KOHL'S CORP. 15.43 +0.46 +3.07%

Retailers Walmart Inc. and Home Depot Inc. hit record highs ahead of quarterly results, which are due out ahead of Tuesday’s opening bell. Kohl's is also set to report.

Looking at commodities, gold jumped $48 to $1,985 an ounce while West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up 88 cents at $42.89 per barrel.

U.S. Treasurys ticked higher, pushing the yield on the 10-year note down to 0.683%.

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European markets were gaining across the board with Britain’s FTSE up 0.61%, Germany’s DAX higher by 0.15% and France’s CAC edging up 0.18%.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.83% after the country’s economy posted a record annualized contraction of 27.8% in the three months through June. Elsewhere in the region, China’s Shanghai Composite surged 2.34% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.65%.