S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite hit new records, Salesforce surges 26%

A sign for Wall Street hangs outside at the New York Stock Exchange on April 20, 2020. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI

Aug. 26 (UPI) — The S&P and Nasdaq Composite set new records on Wednesday as new Dow Jones Industrial Average member Salesforce led a rise in tech stocks.

The Nasdaq rose 1.73%, the S&P 500 gained 1.06% and the Dow ended the day up 72.69 points, or 0.26%, after Salesforce stocks increased 26%.

On Tuesday, the Dow announced Salesforce, Amgen and Honeywell International will join the index on Monday, and Exxon Mobil, Pfizer and Raytheon will depart.

Other tech stocks also helped to lead the market higher as Netflix stock gained 11.61%, Facebook increased 8.22%, Amazon grew 2.85%, Alphabet rose 2.38%, Microsoft climbed 2.16% and Apple ended the day up 1.36%.

Following Wednesday’s increases, the S&P 500 has risen 58% and the Nasdaq has gained 75% since March 23.

Mark Travis, CEO of Intrepid Capital, warned however that the rally has “really been about five or six stocks,” citing the major tech stocks.

“I think it creates a bit of a smokescreen as far as what’s really happening below the surface,” Travis told CNBC.

Wednesday also saw shares of Moderna rise 6.42% as the Massachusetts-based biotechnology company said its vaccine candidate is showing a strong immune response in older adults.

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