US markets end higher as investors take heart in upbeat manufacturing data

04 Aug 2020 Evaluate

The US markets ended higher on Monday with Nasdaq jumping to a new record closing high, as Technology stocks saw continued strength on the day after moving sharply higher last Friday on largely upbeat earnings news. Shares of Microsoft soared by 5.6 percent to a new record closing high after the software giant confirmed it is in talks to acquire Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok. The statement from Microsoft came just days after President Donald Trump revealed plans to ban TikTok in the US due to national security concerns. Adding to the positive sentiment on markets, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) released a report showing a bigger than expected acceleration in the pace of growth in US manufacturing activity in the month of July. The ISM said its Purchasing Managers Index rose to 54.2 in July from 52.6 in June, with a reading above 50 indicating growth in manufacturing activity. Street had expected the index to inch up to 53.6.

Chair of the ISM Manufacturing Business Survey Committee Timothy R. Fiore said in July, manufacturing continued its recovery after the disruption caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. He added panel sentiment was generally optimistic (two positive comments for every one cautious comment), continuing a trend from June. With the bigger than expected increase, the Purchasing Managers Index reached its highest level of expansion since March of 2019. The advance by the headline index came as the new orders index jumped to 61.5 in July from 56.4 in June and the production index surged up to 62.1 from 57.3. However, coronavirus infections in the US reached a record in July, with more than 1.9 million new cases. The US has nearly 4.7 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and about 155,000 deaths, while the global tally for infections stands at more than 18 million and almost 690,000 deaths.

Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 236.08 points 0.89 percent to 26,664.4, Nasdaq surged 157.52 points or 1.47 percent 10,902.8 and S&P 500 was up by 23.49 points or 0.72 percent to 3,294.61.

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