AP – A subdued day of trading on Wall Street ended Monday with a mixed finish for the major stock indexes and more market milestones.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite each notched all-time highs after finishing with gains of 0.1 per cent and 0.3 per cent, respectively. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gave up an early gain and closed 0.1 per cent lower.
The indexes have been gaining ground steadily over the last several months and that has helped push the benchmark S&P 500 index to 35 records so far this year.
“The current market is positive and steady to a nearly unprecedented degree,” said Mark Hackett, chief of investment research at Nationwide. “It’s extremely rare to see these types of consistent gains with almost no volatility.”
Gains in tech stocks, including several chipmakers, tempered declines in communication services, energy and other sectors of the S&P 500. Nvidia rose 1.9 per cent, Broadcom added 2.5 per cent and Advanced Micro Devices finished with a 3.9 per cent gain.
Specialty glassware maker Corning surged 12 per cent for the biggest gain in the market Monday after raising its sales forecast.
Troubled aeroplane maker Boeing rose 0.5 per cent after agreeing to plead guilty to a criminal fraud charge stemming from two crashes of 737 Max jetliners that killed 346 people. The government determined the company violated an agreement that had protected it from prosecution for more than three years.
Entertainment giant Paramount Global slid 5.3 per cent for the biggest decline among S&P 500 stocks after it agreed to merge with Skydance.
All told, the S&P 500 rose 5.66 points to 5,572.85. The Nasdaq added 50.98 points to close at 18,403.74. The Dow fell 31.08 points to 39,344.79.
Traders are looking ahead to several earnings reports this week including updates from Delta Air Lines on Thursday.
JPMorgan, Citigroup and Wells Fargo will report results on Friday. The latest updates for banks could give Wall Street a clearer picture on how consumers are handling increased debt and whether banks are worried about payments and potential delinquencies.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell addresses Congress on Tuesday and Wednesday. The central bank has kept its benchmark interest rate at its highest level in more than two decades in an effort to tame inflation.
The Fed’s goal is to cool inflation back to two per cent without slowing economic growth too much. Inflation is still squeezing consumers, but it has fallen significantly from its peak two years ago. Economic growth has slowed this year, but it remains relatively strong amid a solid jobs market and consumer spending.
The central bank will get more updates on inflation at the consumer level on Thursday. Wall Street expects the latest government report to show inflation easing to 3.1 per cent in June from 3.3 per cent in May.
A report for inflation at the wholesale level, before costs are passed on to consumers, is expected Friday.
Inflation is seemingly stuck at around three per cent by most measures. That has prompted more caution from the Fed and dampened expectations for the number of anticipated rate cuts this year. Most experts are expecting one rate cut from the Fed this year, but not until September. The Fed holds its next policy meeting later this month.
Treasury yields were relatively stable in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.27 per cent from 4.28 per cent late Friday.
European stocks were mixed after France’s elections left its legislature divided among left, centre and far right, with no single political faction getting close to a majority.
Stocks in Asia fell.
