Wall Street ended higher on Monday, supported by gains in technology stocks, with the Nasdaq Composite reaching a record high. Investors also assessed recent economic data. The Nasdaq Composite, the Dow and the S&P 500 ended in positive territory.
How Did the Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) rose 0.2%, or 90.94 points, to close at 51,267.90. Seventeen components of the 30-stock index ended in positive territory, 12 ended in negative territory, and one remained unchanged.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.1% to close at 27,477.31.
The S&P 500 gained 0.7% to end at 7,773.95. Out of the 11 broad sectors of the broad-market index, 10 ended in positive territory, while one was in negative territory. The Communication Services Select Sector SPDR (XLC), the Materials Select Sector SPDR (XLB) and the Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) rose 1.1%, 1.2% and 0.9%, respectively, while the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR (XLRE) fell 0.4%.
The fear gauge, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), increased by 1.4% to 15.52. A total of 16.8 billion shares were traded on Monday, lower than the last 20-session average of 17.3 billion. The S&P 500 posted 13 new 52-week highs and 20 new lows, and the Nasdaq Composite recorded 57 new highs and 243 new lows.
Nasdaq Hits Record High
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite hit a new record closing high of 27,477.31 on Monday. The previous record closing high was 27,244.28, set on Sept. 22. The technology-heavy index benefited from gains, including those of NVIDIA Corporation NVDA and Microsoft Corporation MSFT.
Investors are focusing on the upcoming release of the Federal Reserve’s September meeting minutes. The minutes will provide more information on the Fed’s 25-basis-point increase in interest rates at its September FOMC meeting and offer further insight into its monetary policy decisions.
The stock prices of NVIDIA and Microsoft increased 2.1% and 1.5%, respectively. NVIDIA currently carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Economic Data
The Institute of Supply Management reported that the services purchasing managers index came in at 54.9%, in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. The metric for August was 55.4%. Any reading above 50% indicates expansion of services activities.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).