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US Stocks Drift Higher; Gold, Silver, B02/09 15:24
U.S. stocks drifted higher on Monday following big rallies for markets in
Asia earlier in the day.
NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. stocks drifted higher on Monday following big rallies
for markets in Asia earlier in the day.
The S&P 500 rose 0.5% and pulled closer to its all-time high set two weeks
ago. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 20 points, or less than 0.1%, and
the Nasdaq composite gained 0.9%.
The relatively modest moves followed a 3.9% burst higher for Japan's Nikkei
225 to a record. Stocks rallied there following a landslide victory for the
prime minister's political party in a parliamentary election. The thought is
that will give Sanae Takaichi more power to push through reforms that will
boost the economy and market.
On Wall Street, the U.S. stock market was coming off its best day since May
to close last week, but several concerns still hang over the market. That
includes criticism that stocks have simply become too expensive following their
run to records.
Worries are also heavy about whether all the huge spending by Big Tech and
other companies on artificial-intelligence technology will produce enough
profit to make the investments worth it.
Some of the winners from that rush into AI drove the market higher on
Monday. Chip companies rose, for example, with Nvidia up 2.4% and Broadcom up
3.3%. They were two of the strongest forces pushing the S&P 500 upward.
Kroger climbed 3.9% after the grocer named a former Walmart executive as its
new chief executive officer.
Transocean reversed an early loss and rose 5.9% after the offshore drilling
company said it would buy Valaris in an all-stock deal valued at $5.8 billion.
Valaris leaped 34.3%.
On the losing end was Hims & Hers, which sank 16% after Novo Nordisk filed a
lawsuit and alleged Hims & Hers is unlawfully selling versions of its
weight-loss treatments. The suit follows a move by the U.S Food and Drug
Administration to restrict access to the ingredients needed to copy popular
weight-loss medications.
Hims & Hers said, "Big Pharma is weaponizing the US judicial system to limit
consumer choice" in a post on the X account for the company's communications
team.
Novo Nordisk's stock that trades in the United States rose 3.6%.
Workday fell 5.1% after the AI platform said its CEO, Carl Eschenbach, is
stepping down. Company co-founder Aneel Bhusri is returning as chief executive.
All told, the S&P 500 rose 32.52 points to 6,964.82. The Dow Jones
Industrial Average added 20.20 to 50,135.87, and the Nasdaq composite gained
207.46 to 23,238.67.
In the bond market, Treasury yields held relatively steady ahead of
potentially market-moving reports coming later in the week. The U.S. government
will offer the latest monthly update on the health of the job market on
Wednesday. Friday will bring the latest monthly reading of inflation at the
consumer level.
Either report could sway expectations for what the Federal Reserve will do
with interest rates. The Fed has put its cuts to interest rates on hold, but a
weakening of the job market could push it to resume more quickly. Too-hot
inflation, on the other hand, could keep it on hold for longer.
One of the reasons the U.S. stock market remains close to records is the
expectation that the Fed will continue cutting interest rates later this year.
Lower rates can give the economy a boost, though they can also worsen inflation.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury eased to 4.20% from 4.22% late Friday.
Other markets that had whipped through more violent moves over recent weeks
showed some more strength or stability.
Gold rose 2% to settle at $5,079.40 per ounce. It's been swinging sharply
after roughly doubling in price over 12 months, and it has bounced between
$4,500 and nearly $5,600. Silver, whose price has been even wilder, jumped 6.9%
Monday.
Bitcoin was hanging just below $71,000 after drifting above the level during
the weekend. It had dropped close to $60,000 last week, more than halfway below
its record set in October.
In stock markets abroad, indexes jumped across Asia with Japan's surge.
South Korea's Kospi leaped 4.1%, while stocks rose 1.8% in Hong Kong and 1.4%
in Shanghai.
The gains were more modest in Europe, where Germany's DAX returned 1.2% and
France's CAC 40 rose 0.6%.
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