Nasdaq hits record high as US stocks enjoy broad strength
20:28, 22 June 2021
American equity markets wobbled and then surged again on Tuesday (22 June), pulling the NASDAQ Composite Index to a new record high. Other major indices recorded modest but consistent advances. Crypto assets had another anxious day as Bitcoin dipped below $30,000 before mounting an end-of-day comeback.
The Nasdaq broke through its previous high with gains by many of its better-known names, including Moderna, NVIDIA, Amazon and Apple.
But Nasdaq’s torrid day also started with Splunk, the San Francisco-based data wizardry and cloud services upstart. The company issued twin announcements on Tuesday of a new cloud security offering, and an investment in US$1bn-worth of convertible senior notes by renowned technology investment private equity firm Silver Lake. Some of the proceeds are earmarked for buying back shares, the company said, and Kenneth Hao, chairman of Silver Lake, will join Splunk’s board of directors. Shares rose by more than 12%.
Peloton’s pedal power
Among the other top newsmakers on Nasdaq was cycle-fitness technology darling Peloton, which unveiled Peloton Corporate Wellness, a marketing channel that will help employers offer their workforces discounted access to Peloton’s wired fitness products and related content. The program will be available initially in the US, the UK, Germany and Canada, the company said. Peloton shares were up over 8% on the day.
On the NYSE, meme-stock GameStop’s shares rose by more than 9%. The latest advance was driven by a material development: the early Tuesday announcement that the company has reaped over US$1.1bn by selling five million new shares into the busy market for the company’s stock, which has soared by a staggering 4,300% in the past 12 months. The announcement came just a day after the official start date of the company’s new CEO, Amazon veteran Matt Furlong.
Also on the NYSE, the imminent spinoff by L Brands of its Victoria’s Secret retail chain saw L Brands’ shares rise once again. The company took the next step toward making Victoria’s Secret a separate, traded company with an SEC filing dated Monday.
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A flurry of IPOs
The market for IPOs appears to be a welcoming one, for now. It is a busy week for initial public offerings on the NYSE and Nasdaq, with more than a dozen on the go. There was a warm welcome on Tuesday for Chinese transportation service Full Truck Alliance, which saw its shares shoot up by as much as 20% on its first trading session, settling to a rise of more than 14% on the day.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin traded below $30,000 for the first time since January before bouncing back above $32,000. Technical analysts consider the $30,000 mark a key support level, suggesting that if it drops significantly below $30,000 it could trigger a sell-off.
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