US stocks climb as investors look to extend gains following the best week of the year for the S&P 500
- US stocks climbed Monday as investors piled back into the market over the last five trading sessions.
- The S&P 500, Dow, and Nasdaq are each coming off their strongest weekly performances of the year.
US stocks climbed on Monday, with each of the three major indexes looking to continue the momentum after their strongest weekly performances of the year.
Over the prior five trading sessions, the S&P 500, Dow, and Nasdaq all notched gains of more than 5%, as investors piled back into stocks amid solid corporate earnings and a softer-than-expected labor market report.
On Friday, the jobs report showed a sharp slowdown in payroll gains to 150,000 in October, fewer than the consensus estimate for 170,000. The unemployment rate tick up to 3.9%, the highest since January 2022.
Meanwhile, 400 companies from the S&P 500 have reported quarterly earnings already, and investors will be watching results from key names including MGM Resorts and Walt Disney this week.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, too, is slated to speak this week. At last week's FOMC meeting, the central bank continued its pause on interest rate hikes.
Here's where US indexes stood as the market opened at 9:30 a.m. on Monday:
- S&P 500: 4,371.66, up 0.31%
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: 34,154.13, up 0.27% (92.81 points)
- Nasdaq Composite: 13,531.75, up 0.40%
Here's what else is going on:
- Investors are buzzing about a generational buying opportunity in stocks, but a market veteran just dashed their hopes.
- November is typically the best month for stocks. A quirk among mutual funds may explain the weird phenomenon and point to big gains into 2024.
- Clean energy is the future, but stocks aren't acting like it.
- Foreign bond investors are "extremely concerned" about US deficits while the risk of China and Japan dumping Treasurys looms large.
In commodities, bonds, and crypto:
- Oil prices climbed, with West Texas Intermediate up 1.65% to $81.80 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, moved higher 1.21% to $86.00 a barrel.
- Gold edged lower 0.28% to $1,993.40 per ounce.
- The 10-year yield moved higher 6 basis points to hover at 4.626%.
- Bitcoin climbed 0.14% to $35,109.