U.S. stocks gain as Nasdaq hits record high, Dow in sight of 19,000

Investing.com – Wall Street traded higher on Monday as the Nasdaq Composite marked new all-time highs, the S&P 500 fought to reach a new record closing high and the Dow remained in sight of the 19,000 psychological level; all while oil surged 3% as it appeared OPEC was nearing some type of deal to cap production.

At 11:38AM ET (16:38GMT), the Dow Jones gained 49 points, or 0.26%, the S&P 500 rose 11 points, or 0.49% while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite traded up 31 points, or 0.58%.

The Nasdaq Composed marked a new all-time high at 5,362.48 points on Monday, while the global benchmark S&P fought to stay above a previous record close of 2,190.15.

The Dow, for its part, remained about 15 points off its own record intraday high of 18,934.05 reached on November 14 on the back of the sharp post-election rally, with the 19,000 psychological level within 90 points.

U.S. stocks have continued their upward run despite market expectations that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will hike rates for the first time this year, and only the second time in more than a decade, at its December 13-14 meeting.

In testimony to the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee on November 17, Fed chair Janet Yellen indicated that the central bank’s policy decision committee already felt at the prior meeting that a hike could “become appropriate relatively soon if incoming data provide some further evidence of continued progress toward the Committee’s objectives.”

According to Investing.com’s Fed Rate Monitor Tool, odds for a December rate hike were last at 95.4%.

The dollar lost some ground on Monday, but remained within close distance of a 14-year peak against the other major currencies, as overall optimism over the U.S. economy since Donald Trump’s election and expectations for an upcoming rate hike continued to support the greenback.

In a day with no major economic data, Fed vice chair Stanley Fischer avoided commenting further on the timing of policy tightening, instead electing to note the “enormous uncertainty” over what direction President-elect Donald Trump would take with his policies.

Yet he added that “certain fiscal policies, particularly those that increase productivity, can increase the potential of the economy and help confront some of our longer-term economic challenges.”

“Some combination of improved public infrastructure, better education, more encouragement for private investment, and more effective regulation all likely have a role to play in promoting faster growth of productivity and living standards,” Fischer commented.

On the company front, there were several examples of corporate movements lifting sentiment in equities.

Symantec (NASDAQ:SYMC) agreed to buy Lifelock (NYSE:LOCK) for approximately $2.3 billion including debt in a deal the firms say will create the world’s largest consumer security business. Shares were up 3% and 15%, respectively.

Headwaters (N:HW) rose nearly 17% after Australia’s Boral Ltd (AX:BLD) said it would buy the U.S. construction and building products maker for $1.8 billion.

Oracle Corp (NYSE:ORCL) said on Monday it would buy Dyn, a monitor of global internet performance and traffic, though the business software maker did not reveal the financial terms.

Also on the tech front, shares in Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) jumped 3% after announcing a $6 billion share repurchase program.

On the downside, Tyson Foods (NYSE:NYSE:TSN) tumbled 14% after the meat processor reported lower-than-expected profit and said its chief executive officer would step down.

Meanwhile, oil surged more than 3% on Monday on hopes that OPEC was moving closer to agreeing an output cut when it meets next week.

Russian President Vladimir Putin sees a “high probability” that an agreement to curb oil production will be reached at a meeting later this month in remarks made on Sunday.

Reports that oil producers had decided to cap Iran’s production rather than cut it, also brought a sigh of relief.

Iranian energy minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh pledged on Saturday continued support for the implementation of the Algiers Accord and stated that he remains confident that an all-inclusive agreement can be reached during the upcoming OPEC Ministerial Meeting to be held in Vienna on November 30.

U.S. crude futures gained 3.49% to $47.98 by 11:40AM ET (15:40GMT), while Brent oiltraded up 3.50% to $48.50.

 

Source: Investing.com

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