US markets continued their sharp recovery with all three indices higher, led by the Nasdaq which was up 0.8%.
The S&P 500 and Dow Jones added 0.5% and 0.2%, respectively, with retailers, energy and technology stocks leading the gains.
Microsoft hits US$2 trillion
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) was a key contributor, adding 1.1% which sent the market cap past US$2 trillion for the first time, joining Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) as the only companies to do so.
Despite the lofty valuation, the company trades on a price-earnings (P/E) multiple of around 30 times and has a massive amount of cash on the balance sheet.
Bitcoin falls from grace
The dream 2021 run for cryptocurrencies continues to crater with Bitcoin falling below US$30,000 for the first time this year, cancelling out the 100% gains achieved by many.
The falls are widespread and come following an announcement by the Chinese Government that they would be seeking to ban Bitcoin mining but also restrict the likes of Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) from allowing customers to trade crypto on their platforms.
Property spike
Meanwhile, the home price spike hasn’t been limited to Australia, with the US reporting a 23% annual increase to May despite a lower volume of properties being sold.
US stock market movers
Here’s how popular US stocks traded overnight.
- Splunk (NASDAQ: SPLK) up 11.3%
- Peloton (NASDAQ: PTON) up 8.4%
- CrowdStrike (NASDAQ: CRWD) up 8.0%
- Trade Desk (NASDAQ: TTD) up 5.3%
- Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) up 2.0%
- Pinduoduo (NASDAQ: PDD) down 2.1%
- Marqeta (NASDAQ: MQ) down 2.7%
- NIO (NYSE: NIO) down 5.2%
Despite the positive lead from US markets, the S&P/ASX 200 (ASX: XJO) is expected to open lower on Wednesday. For all the latest, check out Rask Media’s ASX 200 morning report.
