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The S&P 500 recorded a record high for the second trading day in a row while a rally in tech stocks helped lift the Nasdaq to a record high. Investors are awaiting a key Fed decision later this week. Technology was the best performing sector in the S&P 500, with Apple gaining 2% and Facebook climbing over 1%. The yield on the US 10-yr Treasury rose to 1.5% after hitting a three month low last week.
Investors are eagerly awaiting for signals from the US Federal Reserve later this week about a timetable for scaling back ultra-accommodative policies. The decision is due Wednesday, with most economists anticipating the central bank will leave its policy mostly unchanged.
Here's where US indexes stood at the 4 p.m. ET close on Monday:
- S&P 500: 4,255.15, up 0.18%
- Dow Jones industrial average: 34,393.75, down 0.25% (85.85 points)
- Nasdaq composite: 14,174.14, up 0.74%
Strategists can't seem to agree on whether inflation will be transitory or not, despite the Fed insisting it will be short lived.
In an interview with CNBC on Monday, billionaire investor Paul Tudor Jones said he's preparing to go "all in" on his inflation trade if the Fed remains unconcerned about rising prices. But others note that last week's CPI data was elevated due to year-over-year comparisons.
"The largest increases were limited to used vehicles, energy and airfare," said Nuveen's Saira Malik. "Given the lack of evidence of rampant, widespread inflation, we remain confident in the Fed's ability to stay on-message, even if discussions of tapering come a few quarters earlier than originally expected."
Elsewhere in markets, Lumber prices fell as much as 6% on Monday to briefly trade below $1,000 per thousand board feet for the first time since late March.
Bitcoin rose above $40,000 after Elon Musk suggested Tesla would accept payment in cryptocurrency once mining can be done using cleaner energy.
West Texas Intermediate crude gained as much as 1.2%, to $71.78 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, rose 1.3%, to $73.64 per barrel, at intraday highs.
Gold fell as much as 1.8%, to $1845.70 per ounce.
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See Also:
- UBS says this 4-part inflation playbook will help investors profit now and in the market's next phase — and shares how to track the threat of higher prices in real time
- A 30-year market vet and former BlackRock stock chief breaks down the 7 best opportunities he sees right now in an 'expensive' stock market that's getting increasingly difficult to trade
- A TikTok crypto influencer with nearly 600,000 followers explains why bitcoin is at risk of tumbling 30% in the next couple of weeks — and unpacks the tools he uses to determine price predictions
