Stock Market Hits New High Thanks to Fed Policy Shift The escalation of tensions in the Persian Gulf didn't kill investors' enthusiasm.
By Andrew Osterland •
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
The Fed's clear signal yesterday that a rate cut could be coming outweighed worries about rising risks in the Middle East. The apparent shooting down of an American drone by Iran, however, did cause another spike in the price of oil today. West Texas crude oil was up 5.8 percent today and has risen nearly ten percent in the last two days. Shares in oil and gas producer Hess Corp. were up 4.07 percent.
The S&P 500 index set an all-time high late in the day and closed with a gain of 0.95 percent. The Dow and Nasdaq Composite indexes were up 0.94 percent and 0.8 percent respectively. The Entrepreneur Index™ rose 0.79 percent today.
Alexion Pharmaceuticals had the biggest gain on the Entrepreneur Index™ today, jumping 4.09 percent. The stock is up 32.3 percent this year. Fellow drug-maker Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (3.1 percent), which has seen its stock drop 14.2 percent so far this year, was also up sharply.
Investors continued rewarding Adobe Inc. for the stellar financial results it reported yesterday. The stock was up more than five percent after it released earnings yesterday and it gained another 3.74 percent today. It is up 33.5 percent on the year.
The rest of the technology sector was mostly positive. Cognizant Technology (2.49 percent) and salesforce.com (1.99 percent) had two of the better gains. Twitter (-2.34 percent) and TripAdvisor Inc. (-0.93 percent) were the only two tech stocks of thirteen on the index to fall today.
Clothing-makers L Brands (2.75 percent) and Ralph Lauren Corp. (2.01 percent) both had good gains today and homebuilder D.R. Horton Inc. was up 1.87 percent after falling more than two percent yesterday. Asset managers BlackRock (2.34 percent) and Franklin Resources (1.95 percent) were also up sharply.
Related: The Fed Gave the Stock Market What It Expected, but Not What President Trump Wanted
Tesla had the biggest decline on the index today, falling 3.01 percent after a Goldman Sachs analyst confirmed his sell rating on the stock and lowered his price target. David Tamberrino suggested that sustainable demand for Tesla vehicles could be far less than expectations and cut his price target for Tesla shares to $158. They currently trade at $219.
Other declines on the index included mall REIT Macerich Company (-2.49 percent), apparel-maker Under Armour Inc. (-1.41 percent) and Cintas Corp. (-1.05 percent).
The Entrepreneur Index™ collects the top 60 publicly traded companies founded and run by entrepreneurs. The entrepreneurial spirit is a valuable asset for any business, and this index recognizes its importance, no matter how much a company has grown. These inspirational businesses can be tracked in real time on Entrepreneur.com.
