S&P 500 Hits Record Highs, Eyes 6th Straight Gain As Powell Keeps Bears At Bay; Tesla Targets 10th Consecutive Win, Bank Stocks Rally: What's Driving Markets Tuesday?

The S&P 500 index climbed to new all-time highs, rising 0.3% during Tuesday’s session, aiming for a potential sixth consecutive positive close and remaining resilient after Fed Chair Jerome Powell‘s testimony before the Senate Banking Committee.

Powell used both hawkish tones – stating that it is not yet appropriate to cut rates until greater confidence on the 2% target is achieved – and dovish tones, noting recent progress and warning that a weakening labor market could be a significant factor for a rate cut.

Markets are looking ahead with confidence to the upcoming June inflation report, due this Thursday, which could solidify the already high expectations for a rate cut in September.

Financials were the top-performing sector on Tuesday, after Reuters reported that the Federal Reserve is considering revising a key rule that could save the nation's largest banks billions in capital.

Investors also anticipate the upcoming banking sector earnings report with three major banks – JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM, Citigroup Inc. C, and Wells Fargo & Co. WFC – set to announce results on Friday.

Commodities were broadly softer, likely impacted by the second consecutive surge of a broader U.S. dollar basket and rising Treasury yields. Natural gas rose again by over 1% following supply disruptions caused by Hurricane Beryl.

Bitcoin BTC/USD rose 1.8% to $57,800.

Elsewhere, French stocks, as tracked by the iShares MSCI France Index Fund EWQ, tumbled 1.6%, reflecting negative investor sentiment after left-wing parties’ election gain.

Tuesday’s Performance In Major US Indices, ETFs

Major Indices	Price	1-day %chg
Dow Jones	39,474.27	0.3%
S&P 500	5,590.71	0.3%
Nasdaq 100	20,465.04	0.1%
Russell 2000	2,040.20	0.0%

According to Benzinga Pro data:

• The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY was 0.3% higher to $557.01.
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average DIA was 0.4% higher to $394.89.
• The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust (ARCA: QQQ) was up 0.1% to $497.83.
• Sector-wise, the Financials Select Sector SPDR Fund XLF outperformed, up by 1.4%, while the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund XLK lagged, falling 0.4%.

Tuesday’s Stock Movers

• Tesla Inc. TSLA rose about 4%, eyeing the 10th straight day of rally and topping gains within mega-cap stocks.
• Citigroup Inc., Goldman Sachs Inc. GS and Bank of America Corp. BAC each rallied by about 2.7%, and JPMorgan rose 1.8%, in response to the positive news on potentially lower capital buffer requirements.
• Semiconductors weakened across the board Tuesday. Industry giants such as Arm Holdings plc ARM, Broadcom Inc. AVGO and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. AMD fell by about 2% each.
• Incyte Corp. INCY and Vestis Corp. VSTS saw their shares rise by over 4.5% and 7%, respectively, following the announcement of their earnings report dates on July 30 and Aug. 7.
• Albemarle Corp. ALB fell 6.7%, on track to achieve lows last seen in October 2020, as lithium prices continue to ease.

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Image created using artificial intelligence via Midjourney.