US stocks climb to record highs as investors mull Powell's cautious outlook on the economy

• US stocks jumped to new records Monday as investors mull Fed Chair Powell's remarks delivered Friday.
• The Fed chair signaled the central bank may taper bond purchases this year but won't raise rates until 2023.
• Affirm is soaring following news the buy-now-pay-later fintech company partnered has with Amazon.

US stocks edged slightly higher to notch new record highs Monday as investors considered Friday's remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled that signalled support for the economy will be withdrawn cautiously.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite hit new intraday highs shortly after the opening bell.

In a long-awaited speech Friday, the head of the US central bank reiterated that the Fed could start tapering asset purchases in 2021 but will likely not raise interest rates until at least 2023 as it continues to monitor the progress of the economic recovery out of the pandemic. Stocks closed at record highs following the speech.

Here's where US indexes stood at the 9:30 a.m. ET open on Monday:

• S&P 500: 4,517.75, up 0.19%
• Dow Jones industrial average: 35,477.34, up 0.06% (21.54 points)
• Nasdaq composite: 15,176.80, up 0.31%

98% of companies in the S&P 500 have reported second-quarter earnings, and earnings growth on the index expected to come in at over 90% based on Bloomberg data, said Piper Sandler's chief market technician Craig Johnson.

"The improving earnings backdrop has helped offset fear over peak growth and the continued spread of the delta variant," he added. "The FDA's full approval of the Pfizer/BioNtech SE vaccine also helped underpin last week's risk-on rotation. The approval is expected to increase inoculation rates and also provide legal support for vaccine mandates."

Affirm soared as much as 43% in early morning trading after the buy-now-pay-later fintech partnered with Amazon. Amazon customers will now be able to split purchases over $50 into monthly payments.

Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey is planning to build an open platform to create a decentralized bitcoin exchange. In other crypto news, The Dallas Mavericks are giving away $25 gift cards to customers who buy over $150 of merch using cryptocurrencies. It's the latest crypto-friendly move from the NBA team, which owner Mark Cuban said is the largest dogecoin vendor.

West Texas Intermediate crude gained 0.26% to $68.84. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, rose 0.29%, to $72.95 per barrel.

Gold slipped 0.15%, to $1,816 per ounce.