Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Stock Market News for May 25, 2021

Read MoreHide Full Article

U.S. stocks closed sharply higher on Monday, led by a rally in tech stocks as investors shook of concerns of inflation, and took to investing in stocks that had taken a battering during the pandemic. All the three major indexes ended in positive territory.

How Did The Benchmarks Perform?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) rose 0.5% or 186.14 points to close at 34,393.98, to record its third straight session of gains.

The S&P 500 gained 1% or 41.19 points to finish at 4,197.05 points, led by a rally in tech and communication services sectors.

The Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) and the Communication Services Select Sector SPDR (XLC) each gained 1.8%. Ten of the 11 sectors of the benchmark index closed in positive territory.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 1.4% or 190.18 points to end at 13,661.17 points. The rally was once again led by tech stocks. Shares of Facebook, Inc. and Alphabet, Inc. (GOOGL - Free Report) gained 2.7% and 2.9%, respectively. Alphabet carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank  stocks here.

The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was down 8.68% to 18.40. A total of 8.29 billion shares were traded on Monday, lower than the last 20-session average of 10.43 billion. Advancers outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a 2.13-to-1 ratio. On Nasdaq, a 1.06-to-1 ratio favored advancing issues.

Reopening Stocks Gain

Investors were worried about inflation for quite some time that saw a volatile session last week. However, they started the new week on a high. On Monday, investors shed concerns of out-of-control inflation and focused on buying stocks that had taken a bad hit during the pandemic. This saw reopening stocks benefiting.

Shares of airline companies like American Airlines Group Inc. (AAL - Free Report) and United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (UAL - Free Report) gained 1.9% and 1.5% respectively. Also, other leisure stocks like Carnival Corporation & plc (CCL - Free Report) jumped 2.7%. Investors now hope for a faster recovery as the vaccination drive is in full swing, which have given them the due confidence as the government continues to ease restrictions, which is helping reopening stocks.

Tech Stocks Bounce Back

Tech stocks had somewhat been underperforming over the past few session but bounced back on Monday. One of the biggest reasons behind tech stocks taking a hot was the declining value of cryprtocurrency.

Last week bitcoin prices dropped below $30,000, leading to a selloff in tech stocks. The scene was the same over the weekend when the cryptocurrency dropped below $32,000. However, on Monday it rebounded more than 20% to reach above the $39,000 mark. This once again sent tech stocks on a rally.

No economic data was released on Monday.

Bitcoin, Like the Internet Itself, Could Change Everything

Blockchain and cryptocurrency has sparked one of the most exciting discussion topics of a generation. Some call it the “Internet of Money” and predict it could change the way money works forever. If true, it could do to banks what Netflix did to Blockbuster and Amazon did to Sears. Experts agree we’re still in the early stages of this technology, and as it grows, it will create several investing opportunities.

Zacks has just revealed 3 companies that can help investors capitalize on the explosive profit potential of Bitcoin and the other cryptocurrencies with significantly less volatility than buying them directly.

See 3 crypto-related stocks now >>

Published in