Summary:

• US indices enjoy decent move higher since Monday’s close
• Google parent company Alpahbet (GOOG.US) beats earnings forecasts
• Chinese stimulus news and Alphabet earnings boost senitment

 Stock markets have enjoyed a decent move higher this morning, receiving a dual boost in sentiment from a proposed Chinese fiscal stimulus and a better than expected set of results from Google parent company Alphabet after last night’s closing bell. 

The US100 has moved up to its highest ever level today, with Google being one of the largest weighted components on the benchmark. The latest push higher came on the Alphabet results, just after 9PM last night. The news lifted Google shares after hours, and while you can’t trade cash stocks after 9PM, index futures such as the US100 remain open. The US100 soared by around 50 ticks in the 15 minutes following the news and has continued higher since, making a new intra-day high at 7462 in recent trade.  

 The US100 rose strongly as Alphabet delivered an impressive set of results after the closing bell last night. Source: xStation

Shares in Google’s parent company Alphabet rose strongly by more than 4% in after hours trading last night, after the firm delivered an all-round pleasing trading update. Less than a week since the tech giant was hit with a record €4.3B fine over its Android mobile software the company posted strong 

 Google ended yesterday near it’s higher ever level and after the strong earnings release it is called to open at a new record high. Price has been rangebound for the last 9 months but could now be set to extend its rally. Source: xStation 

results for the second quarter with both earnings and revenue topping analysts’ forecasts. Even though the fine has had a clear impact on profits, cutting 60% of the money earned in the 3 months to the end of June, it is still not really large enough to have lasting impact and deter investors with the stock called to open at its highest ever level.

It’s a quiet session ahead in terms of economic releases but with indices up significantly ahead of the cash open it could still be an interesting one to keep an eye on. Bears may look to push price back lower towards the levels of last night’s close while bulls will feel that if this move can stick then record highs on the US500 could follow in the not too distant future.

It is worth pointing out that largely due to the absence of the heavy FAANG weighting on the US30, it has been acting as a laggard amongst the large-cap US indices of late and despite rising today remains more than 5% from its all-time high, made back in January. 

 

 The US30 is lagging behind the US100 and US500 in recent months with the market still a fair distance from its record peak and price remains contained within a narrowing range. Source: xStation