Stock Market Today: Nasdaq Hits New Highs to Start Q3
The first day of 2020's second half kicked off with a mixed trading session that saw Amazon (AMZN) and Facebook (FB) help the Nasdaq to new highs.

Stocks struggled for direction on the first trading day of the second half, as promising news about a possible COVID-19 vaccine and better economic data were tempered by a drop in energy stocks.
A reading that showed U.S. manufacturing activity hit its highest level in more than a year helped bullish sentiment, as did an announcement that Pfizer's (PFE, +3.2%) coronavirus vaccine under development was found to be well tolerated in early-stage human trials.
In a countervailing trade, energy stocks declined amid fears that the U.S. could see a return to widespread lockdowns to slow the spread of COVID-19.
From just $107.88 $24.99 for Kiplinger Personal Finance
Be a smarter, better informed investor.

Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
Strength in the technology sector kept the Nasdaq aloft. Amazon (AMZN, +4.4%) and Facebook (FB, +4.6%) in specific gave the tech-heavy composite enough oomph to gain 1.0% to a record-high 10,154. The S&P 500 finished 0.5% higher to 3,115, while the Dow closed Wednesday down 0.3% to 25,734. The small-cap Russell 2000 lagged them all, dropping 1.0% to end at 1,427.
While fears of shutdowns dragged down economically sensitive small caps and the energy sector, Brad McMillan, Chief Investment Officer for Commonwealth Financial Network, offers up some optimism for investors in his midyear outlook:
"The real question about the coronavirus for the rest of 2020 is not if there will be a second wave, but whether it will be large enough to derail the economic recovery underway," he writes. "So far, it does not look like it will. As of late June, we are seeing significant second waves in several states, and rising case counts in many others.
"Although it is quite possible we will see lockdowns locally, a national shutdown looks unlikely, which should allow much of the recovery to continue."
A Different Investing Landscape
As uncertain as the pandemic has made investors of all stripes, one thing Wall Street can agree on is that coronavirus has changed the way we live and, by extension, the way we invest.
Health-care stocks were once thought to be boring-but-solid value stocks, and not much more. Now, fear of new diseases has caused some of these defensive, nest-egg investments to morph into growth stocks.
Meanwhile, emerging-markets stocks, once left for dead, are starting to show signs of life.
Indeed, there's even a new exchange-traded fund, the Direxion Work From Home ETF (WFH) that seeks to capture the upside of more and more people working from home. Investors who want to profit from this angle of life in a pandemic by building their own portfolios can get a head start by checking out names that will flourish in the work-from-home age.
Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplinger's advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and much more. Delivered daily. Enter your email in the box and click Sign Me Up.

Dan Burrows is Kiplinger's senior investing writer, having joined the publication full time in 2016.
A long-time financial journalist, Dan is a veteran of MarketWatch, CBS MoneyWatch, SmartMoney, InvestorPlace, DailyFinance and other tier 1 national publications. He has written for The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and Consumer Reports and his stories have appeared in the New York Daily News, the San Jose Mercury News and Investor's Business Daily, among many other outlets. As a senior writer at AOL's DailyFinance, Dan reported market news from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
Once upon a time – before his days as a financial reporter and assistant financial editor at legendary fashion trade paper Women's Wear Daily – Dan worked for Spy magazine, scribbled away at Time Inc. and contributed to Maxim magazine back when lad mags were a thing. He's also written for Esquire magazine's Dubious Achievements Awards.
In his current role at Kiplinger, Dan writes about markets and macroeconomics.
Dan holds a bachelor's degree from Oberlin College and a master's degree from Columbia University.
Disclosure: Dan does not trade individual stocks or securities. He is eternally long the U.S equity market, primarily through tax-advantaged accounts.
-
Stocks Slide to Start September: Stock Market Today
Seasonal trends suggest tough times for the stock market as we round into the end of the third quarter.
-
Here's What You'd Have If You Invested $1,000 Into Sherwin-Williams 20 Years Ago
Sherwin-Williams stock has clobbered the broader market by a wide margin for a long time.
-
If You'd Put $1,000 Into Sherwin-Williams Stock 20 Years Ago, Here's What You'd Have Today
Sherwin-Williams stock has clobbered the broader market by a wide margin for a long time.
-
AI Start-ups Are Rolling in Cash
The Kiplinger Letter Investors are plowing record sums of money into artificial intelligence start-ups. Even as sales grow swiftly, losses are piling up for AI firms.
-
If You'd Put $1,000 Into UnitedHealth Group Stock 20 Years Ago, Here's What You'd Have Today
UNH stock was a massive market beater for ages — until it wasn't.
-
Stocks Struggle to Start Nvidia Week: Stock Market Today
Another important week for the stock market starts on a risk-off note.
-
Dow Rips 846 Points to New All-Time High: Stock Market Today
Fed Chair Jerome Powell seems ready to cut interest rates in the fall but will still rely on incoming economic data about inflation and employment.
-
S&P 500 Extends Losing Streak Ahead of Powell Speech: Stock Market Today
Stocks continued to struggle ahead of Fed Chair Powell's Friday morning speech at Jackson Hole.
-
Tech Sells Off While Trump Stirs the Fed: Stock Market Today
We've reached another important part of earnings season, though markets remain captivated by the president, the Fed, and interest rate policy.
-
Dow Retreats From a Record High: Stock Market Today
Quietly rising since April, Home Depot stock was conspicuously constructive Tuesday as high-profile tech names dragged equity indexes down.