The S&P 500 climbed to another record closing high Monday, as investors continued to pile into big tech, with Nvidia and Apple leading to the upside amid AI optimism and expectations for strong iPhone demand, respectively.
At 4:00 p.m. ET (20:00 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 66 points, or 0.1%, the S&P 500 index climbed 9.5%, hitting a record high of 6,692.59, and the NASDAQ Composite added 0.7%.
Nvidia jumps on OpenAI deal, Apple gets price hike from Wedbush NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) jumped more than 3% after the chipmaker said it plans to invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI as apart of a move to build 10 gigawatts of capacity over several years.
Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), meanwhile, hit a eight-month highs after Wedbush lifted its price target on the stock to street high of $310 from $270, citing optimism over iPhone demand.
"We believe that iPhone 17 pre-orders will be up 5-10% vs. last year," Wedbush said, estimating roughly 20% of the 1.5 billion users worldwide that haven’t upgraded their phones over the past 4 years will likely to so.
Fed speakers pour cold water on further cuts A trio of Fed speakers cooled expectations for further cuts, citing inflation still running above the central bank’s target.
Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said Monday he sees not need for further cuts this year as inflation remains a concern. "I am concerned about the inflation that has been too high for a long time," Bostic told The Wall Street Journal. "And so I today would not be moving or in favor of it, but we’ll see what happens,” he added, referring to interest rates. St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem echoed this cautious view, describing the recent cut as a “precautionary move” to support the labor market but warning of “limited room for easing further without policy becoming overly accommodative.”
Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack, meanwhile, called for a “cautious” approach to further cuts, citing worries about elevated inflation despite the labor market’s resilience.
In the chorus of caution on further rate cuts, newly appointed Fed Governor Stephen Miran continued to stress the need for deeper cuts.
The slew of fed speaks comes ahead of a speech by Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday, and top-tier economic data including an inflation report due later this week.
There are also a host of key U.S. economic readings due this week, including purchasing managers index data for September, a final reading of second-quarter gross domestic product growth, and most importantly PCE price index data– the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge– at the end of the week.
Core PCE inflation is expected to remain largely above the Fed’s 2% annual target, while the focus will be on any signs of higher inflation from increased trade tariffs.
