Close: the S & P index hit another record high and FTSE led the rise in technology stocks.

SMM News: U. S. stocks closed higher on Wednesday. Driven by the rise in technology stocks, the Nasdaq and the S & P 500 hit record highs. The annual meeting of global central banks is about to be held. The market pays close attention to Powell's upcoming speech, international economic and trade relations, and US corporate financial reports.

The Dow rose 83.48 points, or 0.30%, to 28331.92; the Nasdaq rose 198.59 points, or 1.73%, to 11665.06; and the S & P 500 rose 35.11 points, or 1.02%, to 3478.73.

The Nasdaq rose as high as 11672.05 points on Wednesday, while the S & P rose as high as 3481.07 points, all of which hit an all-time high in intraday trading.

Technology stocks continue to lead the market. Sai FTSE, which is about to become a constituent stock of the Dow, is up 26%. Netflix is up more than 11%. Facebook is up more than 8%. Tesla rose 6%, and his market capitalization exceeded 400 billion US dollars. Microsoft closed 2.2% higher and Apple 1.4% higher.

"the US stock market has been driven by many positive factors, such as the fact that some investors have finally given up their wait-and-see attitude to join the stock market, the recent improvement in the US coronavirus epidemic, the progress in viral therapy and vaccine research and development, and the easing of international trade tensions," said Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at Leuthold Group.

With regard to the epidemic in the United States, recently, new confirmed cases and hospitalized cases in the United States began to show a downward trend, and tests increased, and experts believe that the epidemic indicators show signs of easing. It is reported that the number of new cases of novel coronavirus in a single day in the United States has dropped to the lowest level in two months. Novel coronavirus epidemic data released on the website of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the 25th showed that there were 33076 new confirmed cases and 394 new deaths in the United States in the past 24 hours. This is the lowest number of new cases in a single day in the United States in two months.

On the economic data side, US durable goods orders rose 11.2 per cent in July and 7.6 per cent in June. The market expects orders to grow by 4.3% in July.

Technology stocks lead the recent rise in US stocks

Big tech stocks have continued their recent strong uptrend, with Facebook (FB), Google's parent company Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) and Amazon (AMZN) all hitting record highs on Tuesday.

The importance of technology stocks to U. S. stocks has reached a historic high, which means it masks some problems that can cause unease.

As of Friday, 1/5 of companies in the s & p 500 were at least 50% below their all-time high, and the index's constituent stocks were, on average, 28.4% below their peak. By contrast, technology stocks such as Apple, Amazon and Microsoft are near record highs or hitting record highs. Some market participants called it the "K-shaped" rebound of US stocks. In other words, although the S & P 500 and the Nasdaq are at record highs, American companies in general are likely to be under great pressure.

Now when investors talk about record highs in U. S. stocks, they are actually referring to a few stocks and one or two sectors.

So far this year, only three sectors have outperformed the S & P 500, with technology stocks leading the pack with gains of 27 per cent, followed by consumer discretionary stocks up 23 per cent. However, even in the consumer sector, the increase can only be attributed to one company, Amazon. The e-commerce giant rose 78% this year, accounting for 43% of the rise in the consumer discretionary index, offsetting the decline of more than half of companies in the same industry.

Analysts say that as long as technology giants such as Apple and Microsoft continue to dominate, it means that the strong rally in US stocks since they hit bottom in March is easily affected by the stock price movements of a small number of companies. As a result, even if sentiment about the economic recovery improves, as yields rise and technology stocks pull back, the gains of smaller stocks may not be able to make up for the losses of larger tech stocks.

International trade relations are slowing down

The market is still watching the progress of international trade relations. "the two sides have made progress and are committed to taking the necessary steps to ensure the success of the first phase of the trade agreement," the Office of the United States Trade Representative said in a statement on Monday. "

It is reported that China is expected to buy record amounts of American soybeans in 2020. After buying 400000 tons of soybeans and 405000 tons of corn on Friday, China bought another 204000 tons of soybeans and 408000 tons of corn on Tuesday. So far in 2020, China has bought five kinds of American agricultural products: soybeans, sorghum, wheat, corn and soybean oil, totaling 18.47 million tons.

The Dow is about to adjust. Three constituent stocks will be replaced.

(CRM), a software company, reported a blowout profit after the close of trading on Tuesday. SFSE is about to become the new Dow constituent stock.

According to the Standard Pol Dow Jones Index, the Dow Jones Industrial average will be adjusted from the opening of trading next Monday, with Sifu time replacing ExxonMobil (XOM), Amgen (AMGN) replacing Pfizer (PFE) and Honeywell (HON) replacing Raytheon Technology (RTX).

The S & P Dow said the changes were caused by an upcoming spin-off of Apple's (AAPL), which would reduce the weight of technology stocks in the Dow's price-weighted average.

Focus stocks

Dick's sporting goods sales hit a record in the second quarter, with e-commerce sales up 194%. In the second quarter, Dick's net sales of sporting goods rose 20.1% from a year earlier to a record high of about $2.71 billion. Ecommerce sales grew by 194 per cent, accounting for 30 per cent of total net sales, compared with about 12 per cent in the same period last year. Merged same-store sales rose 20.7 per cent, compared with 3.2 per cent in the same period last year.

Cloud software company Anaplan beat expectations in the second quarter, as did the guidance on the size of orders. In the second quarter, cloud software company Anaplan's total revenue rose 26% year-on-year to $106.5 million, exceeding market expectations of $103.4 million. In non-US GAAP terms, the operating loss narrowed to $9.6 million, or $0.04 per share, from $16.6 million in the same period last year, far better than the market's expected loss of $0.12.

Hewlett-Packard (HP Enterprise), homebuilder Toll Brothers and retailer Urban Outfitters all reported better-than-expected profits.

Other markets

European stocks generally closed higher on Wednesday, with Germany's DAX index up 0.95% at 13186.30, Britain's FTSE 100 up 0.14% at 6045.70 and France's CAC40 up 0.80% at 5048.43.

Gold and silver futures closed at their highest level in a week on Wednesday. Traders are waiting for Federal Reserve Chairman Colin Powell's upcoming speech at the central bank meeting in Jackson Hole.

The rise in Treasury yields put pressure on gold prices on Wednesday morning. Gold prices accelerated their decline after the announcement of durable goods orders. The data showed that orders for durable goods in the United States rose 11.2% in July, far exceeding market expectations.

Tyler Richey, co-editor of Sevens Report Research, said: "historically, good economic data have been bad for gold prices. But today, real interest rates fell after the data were released, and inflation expectations exceeded expectations of a rise in Treasury yields. This is the upward momentum for the gold market. "

The market is eagerly awaiting the upcoming speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Colin Powell. Powell is expected to send a more accommodating signal that the US central bank is willing to take an unconventional view of rising inflation.

December gold futures rose $29.40, or 1.5%, to close at $1952.50 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The intraday low fell to $1908.40.

September silver futures rose $1.18, or 4.4%, to close at $27.449 an ounce.

Us crude oil futures closed slightly higher on Wednesday. Us crude oil inventories fell for the fifth week in a row, but failed to boost crude oil.

Hurricane Laura (Laura), which has developed into a dangerous Category 4 hurricane, will make landfall in the Gulf of Mexico late Wednesday. Traders are waiting for more information about the impact of the hurricane on energy infrastructure in the Gulf of Mexico.

(WTI), West Texas Intermediate for October delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange, rose 4 cents, or 0.09%, to close at $43.39 a barrel, the highest closing price for a contract since March 5.

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