Wall Street brushes off initial worries over potential capital gains tax hike to end the week on a high note

Wall Street brushes off initial worries over potential capital gains tax hike to end the week on a high note

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4:00pm: Intel 2Q guidance disappoints The Dow closed Friday up 227 points, 0.7%, to reach 34,044 after investors got over initial jitters that a capital gains tax hike is coming down the pike. The Nasdaq gained 198 points, 1.4%, to close at 14,017, and the S&P 500 added 45 points, 1.1%, to 4,180. One laggard despite the largely positive session was Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTL), which saw its stock fall more than 5% to $59.24 after the company posted second quarter guidance that didn't live up to Street expectations.  12:15pm: Goldman, Apple among the day's leaders The Dow shook off a slow start and lingering pessimism around a potential capital gains tax increase out of the White House to climb 188 points, 0.6%, to 34,004 at midday. The Nasdaq increased 186 points, 1.4%, to 14,005, and the S&P 500 improved 42 points, 1%, to 4,177.  "US services activity is rebounding at a rate not seen for at least 11 years, as the PMI for the sector hits 62.2," IG Chief Market Analyst Chris Beauchamp wrote Friday. "...Considering the significant changes expected by the Biden tax hike US stocks are remaining quite resilient, helped along by the continued good news flowing from earnings season." Two companies leading the rising tide are The Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS), that saw shares gain more than 2% to 338.20 and Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), shares of which added 1.8% to $134.34. 10:10am: Proactive North America headlines: Naturally Splendid Enterprises Ltd (CVE:NSP) (OTCPINK:NSPDF) (FRA:50N) says third shipping container of Natera Plant Based Foods has arrived from Australia Energy Fuels Inc (NYSE:UUUU) (TSE:EFR) (FRA:VO51) receives another US$1.75M from US Department of Energy for rare earth feasibility study FansUnite Entertainment Inc (CSE:FANS) (OTCQB:FUNFF) (FRA:4UY) applauds Canadian parliament’s passing of bill to legalize single event sports wagering CytoDyn Inc (OTCQB:CYDY) raises another $25M for Vyrologix development in second covertable debt offering this month Aurania Resources Ltd (CVE:ARU) (OTCQB:AUIAF) (FRA:20Q) intersects sediment-hosted copper at Lost Cities-Cutucu project in Ecuador Aequus Pharmaceuticals Inc (CVE:AQS) (OTCQB:AQSZF) (FRA:AEQ) sees fiscal 2020 revenue rise by 59%, driven by strong sales of Vistitan and Tacrolimus Zinc8 Energy Solutions Inc (CSE:ZAIR) (OTCMKTS:MGXRF) (FRA:0E9) inks US$200,000 contract with leading cloud provider for pilot demonstration of energy storage system 9.40am: Mixed bag for Wall Street It was a mixed picture for Wall Street on Friday morning as investors continued to worry about the potential of US tax hikes. In the early minutes of trading, the S&P 500 was up 0.23% at 4,144 and the Nasdaq rose 0.42% to 13,876. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was the negative outlier, down 0.1% at 33,783. Meanwhile, the downturn in crypto markets continued to impact shares in crypto trading platform Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ:COIN), which was down 2.3% at US$287.23 in early trading in New York. 7:30am: Wall Street called higher The main indices on Wall Street are expected to open higher on Friday morning amid a burst of end-of-week positivity from traders. The Nasdaq, S&P 500 and Dow Jones are all set to start on the front foot, recouping heavy losses on Thursday after reports that the Biden administration is set to propose a 40% capital gains tax for the wealthy. “The prospect of a doubling to CGT prompted speculation that many wealthy Americans could sell out of their stock holdings before the rise comes into play,” said Sophie Griffiths, analyst at OANDA. “Follow-through selling is evident in Europe. However, the fact that US futures are once again on the rise suggests that yesterday’s knee-jerk reaction on Wall Street was overdone.” According to Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at IG, traders are gradually seeing the “uncomfortable truth” that the financial stimulus has to be paid one way or another. “Quite whether Biden manages to garner enough support to pass this bill remains to be seen, with the president likely to require almost unanimous support from the Democrats given the expected widespread rejection from the GOP,” he commented. Four things to watch for on Friday: The earnings calendar for the end of the week will feature numbers from Kleenex and Andrex maker Kimberly-Clark Corp (NYSE:KMB), oilfield services group Schlumberger NV (NYSE:SLB) and cruise line Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (NYSE:RCL) Shares in credit card firm American Express Co (NYSE:AXP) will be in focus after the firm reported earnings that wear ahead of expectations despite a fall in revenues Bitcoin will also draw some attention after the value of the cryptocurrency dropped below US$50,000 amid an ongoing sell-off in the crypto markets On the macro front, flash PMIs from the US will be in focus in addition to new homes sales data for March

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