US Stocks Hit Record Highs in Anticipation of Big Tech Earnings, Federal Reserve Meeting

NEW YORK (Sputnik) - Stocks on Wall Street extended record highs from last week, with all the three main indices hitting new peaks ahead of a busy week of earnings from big tech companies and updates on US monetary policy and second quarter economic performance.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the broadest US equity barometer on the New York Stock Exchange, hit an all-time high of 35,150 before closing at 35,144, up 83 points or 0.2 percent on the day.

The S&P 500 index, which groups the top 500 stocks on the New York Stock Exchange, closed at a record high of 4,415, up 11 points, or 0.3 percent.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite peaked at 14,864 before flat at 14,841. Nasdaq groups high-flying tech names including Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Netflix and Google - all of which are to report second-quarter earnings this week.

“Today was the calm before the storm,” Ed Moya, analyst at New York-based brokerage firm OANDA, said. “No one anticipated any major positioning ahead of this week’s big-tech earnings bonanza, FOMC decision and first look at second quarter GDP and the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge.”

The FOMC, or Federal Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve, will hold its July policy meeting between Tuesday and Wednesday to decide on interest rates and other key monetary matters.

The FOMC is not expected to make any changes for July, although it could provide more details about when the central bank hopes to begin tapering the monthly purchase of $120 billion of bonds that it has been doing since the coronavirus pandemic began 16 months ago.

On Thursday, investors will also get a first look at the second-quarter US GDP, which is expected to show the peak of the post-pandemic recovery.