S&P 500, Nasdaq hit record highs with Apple, Tesla earnings on tap

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite climbed to record highs Monday as investors readied for a busy week of technology earnings and the busiest for the fourth quarter reporting season.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
I:COMP	NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX	13635.991758	+92.93	+0.69%
SP500	S&P 500	3855.36	+13.89	+0.36%
I:DJI	DOW JONES AVERAGES	30960	-36.98	-0.12%

The benchmark S&P 500 added 0.36% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was higher by 0.69% while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 36 points, or 0.12%. The Dow finished 0.7% below its own record peak.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
AAPL	APPLE INC.	142.92	+3.85	+2.77%
FB	FACEBOOK INC.	278.01	+3.51	+1.28%
MSFT	MICROSOFT CORP.	229.53	+3.58	+1.58%
TSLA	TESLA INC.	880.80	+34.16	+4.03%

The advance gave the Nasdaq a fourth straight record-high close as investors await earnings from heavyweights Apple Inc., Facebook Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Tesla Inc. later this week.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
SBUX	STARBUCKS CORPORATION	103.45	-0.46	-0.44%
MCD	MCDONALD’S CORP.	213.34	-0.04	-0.02%

Other companies set to report their quarterly results over the next five days include McDonald’s Corp. and Starbucks Corp. as well as the major airlines, among others.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
MRK	MERCK & CO. INC.	81.15	+0.17	+0.21%
PFE	PFIZER INC.	37.28	+0.73	+2.00%
BNTX	BIONTECH SE	110.61	+2.17	+2.00%

Elsewhere, Merck & Co. ended its pursuit of a COVID-19 vaccine and will instead focus on the development of therapeutics for those who already have the disease.

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was approved for emergency use in Australia and AstraZeneca Plc told European Union officials that production problems would result in the delivery of 60% fewer vaccines than promised in the first quarter.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
AMC	AMC ENTERTAINMENT HOLDINGS INC	4.42	+0.91	+25.93%

Meanwhile, AMC Entertainment raised $917 million in debt and equity, tabling talk the embattled movie chain would file for bankruptcy. The company said the funds extends its financial runway “deep into 2021.”

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
GME	GAMESTOP CORP	76.79	+11.78	+18.12%

GameStop shares squeezed higher Monday as short-sellers continued to rush for the exit after short interest recently reached more than 150% of shares outstanding. The stock had soared 226% from its Jan. 12 close through Friday.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate crude oil rallied 50 cents to $52.77 per barrel and gold slipped 80 cents to $1,854.90 per ounce.

European markets were lower across the board with Britain’s FTSE 100 weaker by 0.84% while France’s CAC 40 fell 1.57% and Germany’s DAX 30 lost 1.66%.

In Asia, China’s Shanghai Composite index added 0.49%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 advanced 0.67% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index climbed 2.41%.