U.S. Stocks Move Mostly Higher Following Last Week's Pullback

After ending the previous session modestly higher, stocks have seen some further upside in morning trading on Monday. The major averages have all moved to the upside, partly offsetting the steep losses posted last week.

Currently, the major averages are well off their highs of the session but still in positive territory. The Dow is up 113.13 points or 0.3 percent at 34,689.72, the Nasdaq is up 56.85 points or 0.4 percent at 13,818.37 and the S&P 500 is up 17.82 points or 0.4 percent at 4,475.31.

The strength on Wall Street may partly reflect easing concerns about the outlook for interest rates after a report from the Wall Street Journal suggested a shift in Federal Reserve officials’ stance on rates.

Fed insider Nick Timiraos said the central bank is likely to pause its recent series of rate hikes next week then take a “harder look at whether more are needed.”

While Timiraos said some Fed officials to still prefer to err on the side of raising rates too much, other see risks as more balanced and worry about unnecessarily causing a downturn or triggering financial turmoil.

CME Group’s FedWatch Tool is currently indicating a 93.0 chance the Fed will leave interest rates unchanged next week.

Later this week, the Labor Department’s report on consumer price inflation in August could have a significant impact on the outlook for rates.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq has received a boost from a surge by shares of Tesla (TSLA), with the electric car maker jumping by 6.1 percent after Morgan Stanley upgraded its rating on the company’s stock to Overweight from Equal-Weight.

Chipmaker Qualcomm (QCOM) has also moved notably higher after announcing an agreement with Apple (AAPL) to supply Snapdragon 5G Modem-RF Systems for smartphone launches in 2024, 2025 and 2026.

Additionally, shares of Hostess Brands (TWNK) have soared after the Twinkie maker agreed to be acquired by J.M. Smucker (SJM) in a cash and stock transaction valued at approximately $5.6 billion.

Sector News

Housing stocks have moved significantly higher over the course of the session, driving the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index up by 1.7 percent.

Considerable strength has also emerged among steel stocks, as reflected by the 1.6 percent gain being posted by the NYSE Arca Steel Index.

Gold stocks are also turning in a strong performance amid a modest increase by the price of the precious metal, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index climbing by 1.5 percent.

Banking, chemical and tobacco stocks are also seeing notable strength, while some weakness is visible among semiconductor stocks.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Monday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index fell by 0.4 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index advanced by 0.8 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index has crept up by 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index are both up by 0.4 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries have moved lower after ending the previous session nearly unchanged. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 3.0 basis points at 4.288 percent.

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