NYSE rises as market traders extend interest rate cut rally

NEW YORK — NYSE stocks gained ground on Monday as market participants parsed mounting expectations of interest rate cuts from the US Federal Reserve in the coming year and looked ahead to a week of crucial economic data.

A broad but modest rally boosted the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq to solid gains, while the Dow ended flat.

Wall Street continues to build on seven straight weeks of gains, the S&P 500’s longest weekly winning streak since 2017.

The S&P 500 is now about 1.2% shy of its all-time closing high, amid growing optimism regarding policy rate cuts in 2024, a fervor that Fed policy makers attempted to rein in on Monday.

Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee warned that the central bank has not pre-committed to cutting rates anytime soon, while Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester said financial markets had got “a little bit ahead” of the central bank with respect to the timing and extent of interest rate cuts.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average held steady at 37,306.02; the S&P 500 gained 21.37 points or 0.45% to 4,740.56; and the Nasdaq Composite added 91.27 points or 0.62% to 14,905.19.

Of the 11 major sectors in the S&P 500, communication services advanced the most, with real estate and utilities ending the session red. S&P 500 energy stocks added 0.8%.

United States Steel jumped 26.1% to a more than 12-year high after Japan’s Nippon Steel announced it would buy the steelmaker in a $14.9-billion deal including debt.

Apple dipped 0.9% as China’s ban on the company’s iPhones and other foreignmade gadgets gathered momentum.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) by a 1.12-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.15-to-1 ratio favored decliners.

The S&P 500 posted 31 new 52-week highs and two new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 132 new highs and 107 new lows. Volume on US exchanges was 11.75 billion shares. —