Several media and tech companies’ stock prices touched 12-month highs today as the overall market rose on the growing belief, reinforced by President Trump’s speech last night, that corporations may soon see their taxes cut.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.5% to close at a record 21,116 — the first time it exceeded 21,000. The Standard & Poors’ 500 and Nasdaq also broke records.
Some analysts say that traders were encouraged by Trump’s moderate tone last night when he vowed to propose “historic tax reform that will reduce the tax rate on our companies.” He also said there would be “massive tax relief for the middle class.” He did not offer specifics.
Banks and finance companies also were lifted by the growing belief that the Federal Reserve will move to lift interest rates.
The Dow Jones U.S. Media Index rose 0.8% today to close just short of a new high.
Companies touching 12 month highs included Nexstar Media (+6.1%), Sinclair Broadcast Group (+4.8%), Apple (+2.0%), Facebook (+1.4%), and Time Warner (+0.7%).
In addition to Time Warner, Big Media companies gaining today included CBS (+2.1%), Sony (+1.8%), Fox (+1.6%), Disney (+0.9%), Viacom (+0.7%) , and Comcast (+0.5%). Discovery bucked the trend, falling 0.8%.
The short list of media-related decliners included Best Buy (-4.6% after reporting weaker than expected earnings), AMC Entertainment (-3.0% after reporting increased spending plans for 2017), and Scripps Networks Interactive (-1.0%).
