Stocks on a hot streak | Small caps are booming | Tesla's bitcoin buy

MON, FEB 08, 2021

EVENING BRIEF

AS OF MON, FEB 08, 2021 • 04:37 ET

DJIA		31385.76
		+0.76%	+237.52

S&P 500		3915.59
		+0.74%	+28.76

NASDAQ		13987.64
		+0.95%	+131.35

Most Active

DOW
NAME	LAST	CHG	%CHG
AAPL	136.91	+0.15	+0.11%
INTC	59.16	+0.98	+1.68%
CSCO	48.94	+0.86	+1.79%

S&P 500
NAME	LAST	CHG	%CHG
F	11.56	+0.05	+0.43%
AAPL	136.91	+0.15	+0.11%
AMD	91.47	+3.57	+4.06%

NASDAQ
NAME	LAST	CHG	%CHG
AAPL	136.91	+0.15	+0.11%
AMD	91.47	+3.57	+4.06%
INTC	59.16	+0.98	+1.68%

EDITOR'S NOTE

Stocks kicked off Monday with a tailwind from the prior week, with the S&P 500 climbing by 0.74% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising by more than 230 points to end the day. The Dow and the S&P 500 rose six days straight, marking their longest winning streak since August.

Energy companies carried the day, with Chevron boosting the Dow, while Marathon Oil and Occidental Petroleum raised the S&P. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ticked up by 1%. But the real high-flyers today were small caps, which soared beyond the broad market. The Russell 2000 index sailed by more than 2% on Monday.

Year-to-date, the index – which is made of the 2,000 companies with the smallest capitalization – is up about 16%. Investors, optimistic about the prospect of an economic recovery, are interested in these tiny companies.

While hopes around a stimulus package are fueling the broad market rally, another asset is enjoying a spike in value, thanks to a notable endorsement from Elon Musk. Bitcoin enjoyed a 14% pop in its price, climbing over $44,000, after Tesla announced it has bought $1.5 billion of the cryptocurrency.

The car manufacturer also said that it would start accepting payments in bitcoin.

Finally, everyone's eyes are on the stimulus package this week. Optimism about a warming economy and rising inflation is leading to an increase in interest rates. Indeed, the 30-year Treasury yield hit 2% today. Goldman Sachs thinks bond yields have a way to go before they threaten stocks' rally.

"Given the historically low level of interest rates, we expect interest rates are still well below levels that would be thought of as a 'tipping point' for equities," Ryan Hammond, U.S. equity strategist at Goldman, said in a note.