Trading Day: New highs, almost no news

- TRADING DAY -Making sense of the forces driving global markets

By Alden Bentley, Editor in Charge, Americas Finance and Markets

Jamie is enjoying some well-deserved time off, but the Reuters markets team will still keep you up to date on why two benchmark stock indexes, and bitcoin, reached new records. I'd love to hear from you so please feel free to reach out at   

Today's Key Market Moves

* The S&P 500 closed up 0.27% and the Nasdaq rose 0.09% * The dollar slipped fractionally against the yen but roseagainst the euro * The 10-year Treasury yield fell 0.6 basis points * US crude oil futures fell about 2.2% to $66.88/barrel * Gold bullion rose about 0.4% to 3,325.25

Today's Key reads 

Trump sets 50% US tariffs on copper, Brazilian imports starting in August

Bitcoin hits another record high

US weekly jobless claims unexpectedly slip to 7-week low

Investors look for signs European earnings can defy tariff turmoil

Wall Street stocks close higher, Delta forecast boosts sentiment

New highs, almost no news

This week, the default reflex on Wall Street, without any economic data or major market news to react to, and even with now-routine White House tariff edicts, was to buy. Thursday confirmed the pattern with a new set of records in two of three main indexes, with an all-time bitcoin high thrown as a bonus.

U.S. President Donald Trump's latest trade salvo was a 50% tariff on goods from Brazil. That sent its currency, the real, tumbling more than 2%, enabling another day of dollar steadiness above last week's three-to-four-year lows.

Like Wednesday's levies on copper imports, the Brazil headline didn't stop the S&P 500 or Nasdaq from closing at all-time peaks, with the Dow rising close to its December record.

The week has been very light on scheduled events. It started with the focus on Trump's well-advertised July 9 tariff deadline. That came and went and somewhere in the blizzard of new tariff headlines, actual new tariffs and cajoling of trade partners to negotiate is an August 1 cut-off date for markets to wait for.

Next week, JP Morgan and other major banks kick off the second quarter earnings season on Tuesday so investors will have headlines more in their comfort zone. Included in that category is the June Consumer Price Index report due on Tuesday.

Treasury yields ticked up on the back of weekly jobless claims data that showed a surprise drop in those seeking unemployment benefits.

Bitcoin's price first moved above $100,000 in December and it has traded sideways since crossing $110,000 in May, until renewing its upthrust above $113,000 on Thursday. New Bitcoin exchange-traded funds have made it easy for big and small investors to jump in, while Trump seeks to establish a strategic cryptocurrency reserve and has appointed several crypto-friendly individuals like Securities and Exchange Commissioner Paul Atkins and White House AI czar David Sacks. 

What could move markets tomorrow?

* No major U.S. data, Fed speakers or other events

Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

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