July 9, Market update

Stocks rallied for a third consecutive session on Monday as investors shelved their trade war fears and set their sights on the Q2 earnings season, which will unofficially kick off on Friday. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq advanced 0.9% apiece, and the Dow added 1.3%, climbing back into positive territory for the year (+0.2% YTD). The market started in the green and climbed steadily throughout the session.

Growth-sensitive sectors were the top-performing groups on Monday, underlining a risk-on attitude from market participants. Financials (+2.3%), industrials (+1.8%), and energy (+1.5%) finished atop the sector standings, while the top-weighted information technology space (+0.8%) struggled to keep pace -- although it did gain some ground in the afternoon.
On the downside, four groups -- mostly counter-cyclical -- finished in negative territory. The lightly-weighted utilities sector was particularly weak, tumbling 3.1%, following an impressive four-week run; the group surged 10.5% from June 12 to July 6.
Overseas, the UK's Foreign Minister Boris Johnson, Brexit Minister David Davis, and Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Department of Transportation Chris Green resigned from government due to ideological differences with Prime Minister Theresa May.
Separately, President Trump said China may be "exerting negative pressure" on a deal between the U.S. and North Korea. Over the weekend, North Korean officials accused the U.S. of being "gangster-like" in its demand for denuclearization following two days of talks with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.


Source: Briefing.com
Graph: Google Finance