Stocks rose on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rising to fresh records, as investors rotated into Big Tech following concerns over the U.S. economic recovery possibly stagnating.
Here's how the market settled on Wednesday:
S&P 500 Index
Dow Jones Industrial Average
Nasdaq Composite Index
Trump files lawsuits against Facebook, Twitter and Google:
Former President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that he is suing Facebook
The three lawsuits, filed in federal court in Florida, allege the tech giants have violated Trump's First Amendment rights by barring him from their social media platforms earlier this year. To rectify, the suits want the court to order the companies to let Trump back on their platforms and to declare that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act is unconstitutional.
FOMC meeting minutes for June show the current speed of economic recovery might call for sooner-than-expected changes to Fed monetary policy:
In the Federal Reserve's June meeting minutes, Federal Open Market Committee members suggested the fast-recovering economy might warrant a sooner-than-expected shift to monetary policy.
"In light of the incoming data and the implications for their economic outlooks, a few participants mentioned that they expected the economic conditions set out in the Committee's forward guidance for the federal funds rate to be met somewhat earlier than they had projected in March," according to the minutes. "Several participants emphasized, however, that uncertainty around the economic outlook was elevated and that it was too early to draw firm conclusions about the paths of the labor market and inflation."
Job openings rise to record high in May:
Job openings rose in May to a record level as labor supply shortages pressure a broad range of industries.
The Labor Department's monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary reported U.S. job openings increased to 9.209 million in May, following a downwardly revised 9.193 million in April.
With labor scarcity harming recovery in both manufacturing and services sectors, the frequency of company driven layoffs fell further in May, with layoffs and discharge rate at a record low of 0.9% and the voluntary quits rate declined to 2.5% from April's 2.8%.
Mortgage applications fall for second straight week:
U.S. mortgage applications declined for a second straight week last week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) weekly index reported Wednesday, falling to the lowest level in a year-and-a-half as high price growth and low inventory continues to weigh on purchasing activity.
Last week's mortgage application volume fell 1.8% during the week ended July 2, following a 6.9% decrease the previous week. By application type, refinances were down by 2% week-to-week and by 8% year-to-year, while purchases declined by 1% over last week and 14% over last year on an unadjusted basis.
Here's how benchmarks began trading at open:
S&P 500 Index: +0.22% or +9.37 points to 4,352.91
Dow Jones Industrial Average: +0.07% or +22.89 points to 34,600.26
Nasdaq Composite Index: +0.43% or +62.35 points to 14,725.48
DiDi app removed from WeChat, Alipay:
DiDi's
WeChat and Alipay are critical portals to connect services with their massive user base without the user needing to download every app they want to use, according to CNBC.
