Image source: American Airlines.
After waiting more than a year, investors have now seen record closing highs for two days in a row. The stock market added to its previous gains, rising on Tuesday to another record for the S&P 500. The Dow joined in on the record action with its first new all-time high since May 2015. Helping to send the market higher were reassurances that interest rate increases are likely to stay on hold for an extended period of time, changing the previous expectation for multiple rate increases this year. As long as Brexit-related economic fallout and other uncertainties persist, investors will have to watch closely, but stocks appear to be in favor for the moment in this summer rally.
Leading the way higher were American Airlines Group (AAL 0.78%), Shutterstock (SSTK 3.08%), and Weatherford International (NYSE: WFT).
American flies higher
American Airlines Group jumped 12% on a strong day for the airline industry in general. Analysts following the sector believe American and its peers will bounce back from their recent share-price weakness, and they expect the decline in the key passenger revenue per available seat mile metric will give way to a more stable outlook going forward. In addition, American in particular announced that it had extended its relationships with its credit card partners, inking new agreements that will continue to provide frequent flier miles and other perks to customers.
The airline said the deals will boost income by as much as $800 million per year by 2018, showing the value of capturing customer loyalty in an increasingly concentrated airline industry. If current trends continue, American is well-positioned to benefit from resurgent passenger traffic in the months and years ahead.
Shutterstock takes a pretty picture
Shutterstock soared 14% after the provider of commercial imagery and music announced an agreement with Google. The image licensing deal will allow Google's digital and mobile display advertising products to gain access to Shutterstock's collection of more than 90 million images. By using an application programming interface solution from Shutterstock, Google will be able to tailor its use of images to its own needs. Shutterstock CEO Jon Oringer noted that his company's API and enterprise platforms "make it easy for companies like Google to access professional, high-quality content at scale and in a way that makes sense for their unique workflow." With Google becoming one of many companies that have integrated Shutterstock's search capabilities into their products, Shutterstock is gaining more attention across the industry.
Weatherford feels more energetic
Finally, Weatherford International climbed 10%. The oilfield services company was one of many winners on a strong day for the energy markets, in which crude oil climbed more than $2 to come close to $47 per barrel. Overall, Weatherford will do well if oil and gas exploration and production companies start ramping their activity levels back up, because it will be able to provide more services to its customers and eventually start to tighten up its pricing structure once again. Investors aren't expecting a quick turnaround, with losses projected through the company's next fiscal year. Eventually, though, Weatherford should stabilize once energy markets demonstrate that they can maintain equilibrium and slowly work their way back upward.
