Friends
Stocks got out of the starting gate pretty well on this first trading day of August, but as bond yields fell so did the market averages. The fear that the economic boom may be less booming sooner than later seems to have become the new worry. With bond yields continuing to fall the markets seem less aroused by inflation fears than they do fears that the Delta variant may send another shock to the economic nervous system.
For the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 97 points to close at 34,838. The S&P 500 was down 8 points to finish the day at 4,387. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 8 points to close at 14,681. Gold was down $1 to trade at $1,816 per ounce, while oil was down $2.57 to trade at $71.38 per barrel WTI.
The juxtaposition of great earnings reports from corporate America and the plunge, once again, of longer term interest rates is fascinating to see and quite confusing for market participants. It seems the view of whether traders will look through the Delta variant changes hour by hour lately. It could be an interesting week to observe. Stay tuned.
Have a nice evening everyone.
