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The Nasdaq is bouncing back as stimulus checks hit bank accounts, GDP expectations grow

16 March 2021
Dan Ackermann

Tech stocks led the way as U.S. equity indexes finished higher on Monday — the Dow and S&P closed at record highs and the Nasdaq rose 1%, having now reversed half of its correction from mid-February.

Why it matters: Bullish momentum again powered the market higher, as traders continue to put rising COVID-19 cases in Europe, spiking U.S. Treasury yields and a moribund labor market out of mind.

What's happening: The first direct stimulus payments began to hit Americans' bank accounts over the weekend and expectations for U.S. economic growth continue to power sky-high expectations.

Between the lines: The decline in tech shares that sent the Nasdaq down 10% from its previous record high is quickly being reversed, even as U.S. interest rates remain at elevated levels around 1.6%, the highest they have been in a year.

  • Since March 8, the Nasdaq has risen 6.8% compared to a 3.8% rise in the S&P and a 3.6% gain for the Dow, suggesting the selloff in tech shares that took place from mid-February to early March could be a short-lived blip rather than a market-changing event.

The big picture: Tech is climbing back even as expectations for U.S. economic expansion increase, suggesting the "buy anything" rally could be making a return — though bearish investors caution that this exuberance could be a contrarian indicator.

  • The main holdouts from the recent boomlet have been oil and energy stocks, which fell on Monday.
  • Energy has been far and away the best performing sector of the market this year.

What's next: After last week's meeting of the European Central Bank, this week is chock full of central bank meetings with press conferences by influential heads every day, beginning tomorrow with the Fed.

  • The Bank of England meets on Thursday, and the Bank of Japan wraps its meeting Friday.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.