FX.co ★ Dow Jones and S&P 500 hit record highs

On Monday, US stock indices closed the trading session near fresh highs.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.5% to settle at 32,953.46 points, thus reaching its 14th record level in 2021. S&P 500 advanced by 0.6% to 3,968.94 points, whereas Nasdaq Composite rose by 1.0% to trade at 13,459.71.

Since the beginning of the month, companies that are more sensitive to the economic situation have been showing the best performance. Analysts explain this phenomenon by the hope for rapid economic growth. Moreover, the paces of the vaccination program are exceeding forecasts. That is why market participants are ready to make more optimistic predictions about the second half of the current year. Notably, the adoption of the $1.9 trillion stimulus package has also boosted the US stock market.

Economists suppose that such numerous stimulus measures may result in higher consumer spending, that is the main indicator of the US economic recovery. Moreover, this will have a positive influence on the corporate income.

On Monday, securities of companies from the technological sector triggered a confident jump in the leading stock indices. Curiously, at the beginning of the day, the market sentiment was rather gloomy. The leading indices began gaining in value only in the second half of the day.

Stocks of US technology company Nvidia gained 2.6%, whereas securities of Akamai Technologies increased by 2.5%.

At the same time, a drop in oil prices resulted in a slide of securities of companies in the oil and gas sector.

Thus, securities of US oil company Occidental Petroleum declined by 4.3%, whereas stocks of ConocoPhillips lost 1.7% after WTI futures fell by 0.3% to $65.39 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Stocks of AMC Entertainment, an American movie theater chain, skyrocketed by 26% amid the news that the company will be allowed to resume working this week in Los Angeles (California).

At the same time, securities of Caesars Entertainment, a chain of casinos and hotels, added 0.6%, and stocks of NXP Semiconductors and Penn National Gaming gained 9.0% and 4.6% respectively.

Yields on the US 10-year bonds hit the level of 1.609%, sliding from the 1.634% logged on Friday.

At the same time, investors are waiting for Wednesday, when FOMC meeting will take place. Market participants are expecting new forecasts concerning the economic recovery, yields on US treasuries, and inflation prospects.

The US Congress has recently adopted the $1.9 trillion stimulus package. Since then, market participants have a lot of concerns as such significant support measures may lead to a surge in the US inflation in the long-term perspective. This, in turn, may force the US Fed to increase the key interest rate earlier than expected.

At the same time, trades on the ATP stock market closed without any significant changes. Thus, Hong Kong's Hang Seng inched up by 0.3%, Japan's Nikkei 225 added 0.2%, China's Shanghai Composite dropped by 1%, and South Korean Kospi slid by 0.3%.