Dow, S&P set records on opening day of 2022

Wall Street got 2022 off to a solid start Monday with more record highs for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

The S&P 500 rose 0.6 percent and the Dow finished 0.7 percent higher. Both indexes eclipsed the record highs they set last Wednesday. The Nasdaq composite rose 1.2 percent.

Technology stocks and a mix of retailers and other companies that rely on consumer spending accounted for a big share of the gains. Apple rose 2.5 percent, closing just shy of becoming the first company to hit a market capitalization of $3 trillion. It briefly traded above that level during the day.

Tesla jumped 13.5 percent for the biggest gain in the S&P 500 after after reporting strong delivery numbers for 2021.

Bond yields rose significantly. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 1.64 percent from 1.51 percent Friday. That helped push up shares in banks, which rely on higher yields to charge more lucrative interest on loans. Bank of America rose 3.8 percent.

The market’s solid start to 2022 follows another banner year for stocks on Wall Street. The S&P 500 closed out 2021 with a gain of 26.9 percent, or a total return of 28.7 percent, including dividends. That’s nearly as much as the benchmark index gained in 2019.

The S&P 500’s latest milestones, following up on the 70 record highs it posted last year, are a sign investors remain bullish about stocks, despite the recent spike in COVID-19 cases from virus’ fast-spreading omicron variant and expectations that the Federal Reserve will begin pushing up interest rates sometime this year to fight rising inflation.

“It’s been going on for months and months. We’ve had all-time highs and we keep hitting them,” said Randy Frederick, vice president of trading & derivatives at Charles Schwab. “When you still have a low interest rate environment, which we do, at least for now, (stocks) are the place to be.”

The S&P 500 rose 30.38 points to 4,796.56. The Dow gained 246.76 points to 36,585.06. The Nasdaq rose 187.83 points to 15,832.80.

The Russell 2000 gained 27.24 points, or 1.2 percent, to 2,272.56.

Health care companies fell broadly and kept gains elsewhere in the market in check. Pfizer shed 4.1 percent despite news that the U.S. expanded use its COVID-19 booster shots for children as young as 12.

Industrial stocks also fell. Union Pacific, a railroad operator, slid 1.7 percent.

The Institute for Supply Management will give investors an update on the manufacturing sector on Tuesday and the services sector on Thursday.

The Labor Department’s jobs report is due Friday.