US: Tech companies rally ahead of earnings, hearing

[NEW YORK] Tech shares led Wall Street stocks higher on Monday ahead of major economic news events, including a high-stakes congressional hearing with the heads of Amazon, Apple and other giants.

The chief executives of those companies along with Google and Facebook are scheduled to appear Wednesday for a hearing that will look at whether Big Tech has attained too much dominance as they have become increasingly central to the global economy.

All four of the companies gained on Monday, a reversal from the weakness late last week.

"You've seen this longstanding proclivity to buy into the weakness," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare, who said he was surprised by the advance given that the companies are also reporting quarterly earnings this week.

"You'd expect there to be more hesitancy," Mr O'Hare said.

The Nasdaq Composite Index finished up 1.7 per cent at 10,536.27.

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.4 per cent to 26,584.77, while the broad-based S&P 500 advanced 0.7 per cent to 3,239.41.

Stocks have also garnered support from broad expectations that Congress will enact another round of stimulus to support the coronavirus-ravaged economy.

This week's calendar also includes the first assessment of second-quarter US growth, which is expected to be an historically bad report given the shutdown of the American economy.

The Federal Reserve is also scheduled to complete a two-day policy meeting on Wednesday.

Among individual companies, Moderna surged 9.2 per cent as it announced that it had begun a phase three trial of a vaccine candidate for coronavirus.

Hasbro tumbled 7.4 per cent as the toymaker reported disappointing results due to store closures because of Covid-19.

AFP