What crisis? Nasdaq nears all time highs, defying toll of economic shutdown
On Tuesday morning, the Nasdaq 100 was roughly 2% from records set in February, while the Nasdaq Composite was less than 4% from its highs.
While we may not see a V-shaped recovery in the economy coming out of the coronavirus crisis, investors are certainly seeing a V-shaped rebound in the Nasdaq.
Despite the coronavirus pandemic wreaking havoc on markets, the tech-heavy index, which holds 100 top names including Amazon and Alphabet, soared higher on Tuesday morning, only 2% off from its all-time highs reached in February this year. The Nasdaq Composite (the widely-followed index for the Nasdaq) saw a similar jump, and as of midday Tuesday was less than 4% from its February highs.
In fact, the Nasdaq has recovered over 30% from market-wide lows in March, as markets rose last week despite volatility over the past month. The Nasdaq 100 is up 6% for the year, vs. a drop of 7% for the S&P 500.
Stocks have been buoyed by optimism around a possible new vaccine, states slowly starting to reopen, and continued support from the Fed. Yet the rapid rise is making some analysts antsy.
Partly the rise has been fueled by a few giant names. Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft, Apple, and Facebook make up roughly 20% of the S&P 500 and a similar chunk of the Nasdaq 100. The dichotomy between “winners” and “losers” has become even more apparent, analysts say, because, “In a market where there’s quite a bit of uncertainty, investors almost always…are on the hunt for growth and certainty—that’s the magic combination,” Wells Fargo Investment Institute’s senior global market strategist Sameer Samana recently told Fortune. That sentiment has benefitted big tech names that have thrived as working from home, shopping online, and streaming have all accelerated during the pandemic.
One person eager to cheer the rally? The president took to Twitter, referencing the fact that the S&P 500 broke the 3,000 point mark for the first time since early March.
Some of the stocks in the Nasdaq 100 seeing a rally early Tuesday were United Airlines, up over 13% in early trading, and Expedia, up roughly 10% Tuesday morning.
Others market observers struck a note of skepticism. One neatly captured that sentiment in one chart:
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