ADVERTISEMENT

Investors Get Greedy as Nasdaq 100 Hits a Record

The Nasdaq 100 closed at a record of 7,680.72, extending its year-to-date gain past 21 percent.

Investors Get Greedy as Nasdaq 100 Hits a Record
A Wall Street street sign is displayed near the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S. (Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- The leaders of the decade-long bull run in U.S. equities are back at an all-time high.

The Nasdaq 100 closed at a record of 7,680.72 on Wednesday, surpassing its August 2018 peak and extending its year-to-date gain past 21 percent. The last thrust was paced by just two stocks. Strip out Apple Inc. and Qualcomm Inc., which agreed on a settlement to resolve litigation, and almost all of the 0.3 percent gain would vanish. The equal-weight version of the Nasdaq 100 closed lower, indicating poor breadth.

Not only is the tech-heavy gauge at an all-time high, but it’s also ascended to its best level relative to the S&P 500 since the dot-com bubble.

Investors Get Greedy as Nasdaq 100 Hits a Record

Earnings season for Nasdaq 100-listed firms kicks into high gear next week with the likes of Microsoft Corp., Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. reporting. The options market hints at the potential to build on its gains as companies release results.

The implied volatility of calls that would be in the money should the index rise a little less than 5 percent over the next month is relatively elevated compared to calls that provide exposure to a 2.5 percent advance. That’s a sign of greed surfacing after already gaudy returns to begin 2019.

Investors Get Greedy as Nasdaq 100 Hits a Record

“Tech has several key attributes, which basically is why it keeps leading the market higher; in a certain respect the tech rally is the market rally. However, it’s falling in love with itself in a way that makes me tactically uncomfortable,’’ said Michael Purves, chief global strategist at Weeden & Co. “If earnings season comes in strong, for tech the upside is probably going to be pretty limited.’’

The setup in technology is reminiscent of July 2018, he added, when tech valuations became quite rich relative to the S&P 500. Indeed, the forward price-earnings premium for the Nasdaq 100 is approaching a similar extreme as last summer.

To contact the reporter on this story: Luke Kawa in New York at lkawa@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jeremy Herron at jherron8@bloomberg.net, Chris Nagi

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.