Wall Street Today: Fed officials weigh ending asset purchases by mid-2022

Asian stocks are set for a muted open Tuesday as traders weigh a record-breaking run in the S&P 500 against concerns the delta virus variant will choke global growth. Treasuries and the dollar climbed.

Futures edged up in Japan and were little changed in Australia and Hong Kong. U.S. equity contracts fluctuated after the S&P 500 closed at another all-time high, doubling from its pandemic low in March 2020. Health-care and utility companies advanced, while Apple Inc. hit a record. Tesla Inc. sank on an investigation into the electric-vehicle firm’s Autopilot system.

Michael Burry, the investor made famous by “The Big Short” movie, has taken aim at one of Wall Street’s hottest stars.

Federal Reserve officials are nearing agreement to begin scaling back their easy money policies in about three months if the economic recovery continues, with some pushing to end their asset-purchase program by the middle of next year.

In recent interviews and public statements, several have advocated for this timetable, which would enable them to raise interest rates sooner than currently anticipated if the economy makes rapid progress toward their goals.

Companies are hoarding record cash amid delta fears

Companies are sitting on a record amount of cash amid lingering uncertainty about disruptions from the public health crisis, defying expectations earlier this year that a waning pandemic would unleash a spending spree.

Cash and short-term investments on corporate balance sheets globally are at an all-time high of $6.84 trillion, according to data from S&P Global, extrapolated from second-quarter earnings reports. That is 45% higher than the average in the five years preceding the pandemic and a 2.6% increase from the previous quarter.

The broad equity benchmark has rallied 100% on a closing basis from its Covid trough of 2,237.40 on March 23, 2020. It took the market 354 trading days to get there, marking the fastest bull market doubling off a bottom since World War II, according to a CNBC analysis of data from S&P Dow Jones Indices.

The S&P 500 closed at a record 4,479.71 Monday, up 0.3% on the day and 100.2% higher than its low crisis close.

“After a strong start to the second quarter of 2021, demand slowed due to a number of headwinds,” Szulczewski wrote in the first sentence of the letter published late Thursday, alongside Wish’s earnings report.

Five states broke records for the average number of daily new Covid cases over the weekend as the delta variant strains hospital systems across the U.S. and forces many states to reinstate public health restrictions.

Florida, Louisiana, Hawaii, Oregon and Mississippi all reached new peaks in their seven-day average of new cases per day as of Sunday, according to a CNBC analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. On a per capita basis, Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida are suffering from the three worst outbreaks in the country.

The plant milk company said on Monday that revenues for the three months to June rose 53 per cent year on year to $146.2m on a net loss of $59m. As a result, it now expects full-year revenues of more than $690m. That would be a 64 per cent increase from the previous year and above analysts’ forecasts of $681m, according to Refinitiv data.