U.S. stocks drifted higher Monday after rallies in Asia earlier in the day, while investors watched commodities and cryptocurrencies for signs of stabilization after volatility. Gold rose to $5,079.40 per ounce, silver jumped 6.9% and bitcoin held just below $71,000 following a dip to about $60,000 last week.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 climbed 32.52 points, or 0.5%, to 6,964.82, as the Nasdaq composite added 207.46 points, or 0.9%, to 23,238.67. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 20.20 points to 50,135.87, reflecting the relatively modest tone of the move as markets weighed how much of the recent surge can be sustained.
The broader mood also drew on hopes that the Federal Reserve would continue cutting interest rates later this year, even as traders weighed the risk that weaker labor-market data could accelerate Fed action while “too-hot” inflation could keep cuts on hold longer. Treasury yields were little changed ahead of two data releases scheduled for later in the week, including a monthly job-market update on Wednesday and the latest consumer inflation reading on Friday. The 10-year Treasury yield eased to 4.20% from 4.22% late Friday.
In Asia, markets moved sharply higher after a political development in Japan. The Nikkei 225 jumped 3.9% to a record, with the rally following a landslide victory for the prime minister’s political party in a parliamentary election, a shift expected to give Sanae Takaichi more power to push through reforms aimed at boosting the economy and markets.
The Wall Street gains also reflected company-specific stories, including strength in chip stocks tied to ongoing artificial-intelligence spending. Chip companies rose, including Nvidia up 2.4% and Broadcom up 3.3%, two of the strongest forces pushing the S&P 500 upward.
Some individual stocks rose on corporate moves. Kroger climbed 3.9% after naming 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, while Valaris jumped 34.3%.
Other names fell on their own developments. Hims & Hers sank 16% after Novo Nordisk filed a lawsuit alleging Hims & Hers is unlawfully selling versions of its weight-loss treatments, a move the report said follows the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s effort to restrict access to ingredients used to copy popular weight-loss medications. Workday fell 5.1% after the AI platform said its CEO, Carl Eschenbach, was stepping down, with co-founder Aneel Bhusri returning as chief executive.
Outside the U.S., indexes gained across parts of Asia, with South Korea’s Kospi jumping 4.1% and stocks rising 1.8% in Hong Kong and 1.4% in Shanghai. In Europe, the report said Germany’s DAX rose 1.2% and France’s CAC 40 gained 0.6%.