A version of this story gave the incorrect date for Walt Disney’s earnings release, which is due on Wednesday after the close.
U.S. stock futures inched higher Tuesday, putting major indexes on track to continue what’s been the longest winning streak in more than two years.
What’s happening
On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA,
Though the advance was modest, the eighth straight gain for the S&P 500 was the longest since April 2019. The Dow industrials, the S&P 500, the Nasdaq Composite and the Russell 2000 all finished at record highs after the House of Representatives passed infrastructure spending legislation, that’s expected to be signed into law by President Joe Biden.
What’s driving markets
The term “melt up” is increasingly being used to describe the action in stocks.
“As scary as these heights feel, the market continues trading well. We’ve been solidly overbought for weeks, yet buyers keep throwing even more money at these record highs,” said Jani Ziedins, who authors the Cracked Market blog.
The Federal Reserve’s twice-a-year financial stability report said valuation measures are high across most asset classes. It noted that stock prices relative to earnings forecasts are at the upper end of its historical distribution, and the yields on Treasury securities, corporate bonds and leverage loans are at low levels relative to their history.
Traders will have to consider the possibility of a change in leadership at the Federal Reserve, after Bloomberg News reported that Fed. Gov Lael Brainard interviewed for the role currently being held by Jerome Powell. Powell’s still considered the front-runner to be re-nominated.
Producer price data highlights the day’s economic releases.