US STOCKS-Wall Street closes higher, Nasdaq sets record as potential vaccines show promise

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By Stephen Culp
NEW YORK, July 20 (Reuters) - Wall Street gained ground on
Monday and surging technology shares pushed the Nasdaq to a
record closing high, as promising trial results from potential
COVID-19 vaccines helped investors look beyond spiraling new
cases of the disease.
Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O and Microsoft Corp MSFT.O provided
the biggest boosts to the Nasdaq and the S&P500, but industrials
retreated, capping the Dow's gains.
Deaths in the United States from COVID-19 passed the 140,000
mark over the weekend, as cases continued to rise in 42 of 50
states. Trials of potential vaccines have shown promise. Most
recently, drugs from AstraZenica AZN.L , CanSino Biologics Inc
6185.HK and from a partnership between Pfizer Inc PFE.N and
German biotech firm BioNTech BNTX.O were safely administered
and induced immune responses. "Developments on COVID, positive or negative, have become
the new risk-on/risk-off binary trigger for the market," said
Joseph Sroka, chief investment officer at NovaPoint in Atlanta.
"A year ago it was trade."
"In the next few weeks there will start to be risk
assessments made on how the size of the next round of financial
stimulus," Sroka added.
The U.S. Congress, still looking to mitigate the pandemic's
economic effects, was set for a week of partisan wrangling over
a new relief package, with two weeks until enhanced jobless
benefits expire for millions of Americans. Unofficially, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose
8.98 points, or 0.03%, to 26,680.93, the S&P 500 .SPX gained
27.11 points, or 0.84%, to 3,251.84 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC added 263.90 points, or 2.51%, to 10,767.09.
Of the 11 major sectors in the S&P 500, consumer
discretionary .SPLRCD and tech .SPLRCT enjoyed the largest
percentage gains.
Second-quarter earnings season chugged along. Some 48
companies in the S&P 500 have posted results, with 77.1% of
those beating consensus, according to Refinitiv data.
In aggregate, analysts now expect S&P 500 second-quarter
earnings to have dropped 43.2% year-on-year, per Refinitiv.
This week, Microsoft Corp MSFT.O , Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O ,
Tesla Inc TSLA.O and Intel Corp INTC.O are among the
high-profile companies expected to report quarterly results.
Shares Halliburton Co HAL.N rose after posting a surprise
adjusted quarterly profit and better-than-expected cash flow due
to cost-cutting. Noble Energy Inc NBL.O jumped on news that Chevron Corp
CVX.N agreed to buy the oil and gas producer for $5 billion.
Chevron ended the session lower.
Moderna Inc MRNA.O plunged on positive results from its
competitors' rival COVID-19 drug trials.