Tesla surge boosts Wall Street ahead of holiday
Wall Street's main indexes ended with slim gains in a holiday-shortened session on Monday, helped by a surge in Tesla and strength in bank shares as the second half of the year kicked off on a subdued note. Tesla shares jumped 6.9 percent as the electric vehicle maker said it delivered a record number of vehicles in the second quarter. Shares of major banks gained after the companies raised dividends as they sailed through the Federal Reserve's annual health check. Wells Fargo shares rose 1.7 percent, Citigroup shares climbed 1.5 percent, while the S&P 500 banks index ended up 1.5 percent. Trading volumes were lighter than average as the stock market closed at 1pm local time ahead of the July 4 Independence Day holiday on Tuesday. "You have got a lot of people that are just not in the market today," said Chuck Carlson, chief executive at Horizon Investment Services in Hammond, Indiana. "Nobody is really placing any big bets on either side of the market right now." The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.03 percent, to 34,418; the S&P 500 gained 0.12 percent, at 4,456; and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.21 percent, at 13,817. Outsized gains for megacap stocks have led indexes this year, but recent signs have shown a broadening rally. "You have a stronger market and the likelihood of a more sustained upside move when you have broader strength," Carlson said. A widely watched section of the US Treasury yield curve hit its deepest inversion on Monday since 1981, reflecting financial markets' concerns about the economy. US manufacturing slumped further in June, a survey showed, reaching levels last seen when the economy was reeling from the initial wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. (Reuters)