Tech, retailers lift stocks; Nasdaq hits new high

U.S. stocks rose for the second consecutive day Monday, with technology companies, retailers and household goods companies in the lead. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite and the Russell 2000 index of smaller, more U.S.-focused firms both hit all-time highs.

Major tech firms, including Alphabet, made solid gains. Apple rose as it previewed new features and software updates. Microsoft edged up after it said it would buy the coder platform GitHub. Facebook, however, fell on new privacy concerns.

Retailers such as Target, Walmart and Under Armour rallied, as did Amazon. Energy companies fell as the price of oil slid.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index is on its first winning streak in three weeks. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite finished at a record high, above a mark it set March 12, and the Russell 2000 surpassed a record it set last week.

Stocks have wobbled in the last few months as investors worried that tariffs and other barriers to trade will reduce economic growth and corporate profits. Invesco Chief Global Market Strategist Kristina Hooper said the United States crossed an important dividing line last week when, after months of talks, its aluminum and steel import duties went into effect.

“It appears that will lead to some significant retaliatory tariffs,” she said. “Markets seem to treat it as if it’s just rhetoric and it’s just a bargaining tool, and my view is that that is foolhardy.”

Apple climbed 0.8% to $191.83. Alphabet rose 1.6% to $1,153.04. Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices climbed 3.1% to $14.85.

Microsoft rose 0.9% to $101.67 after the company said it would pay $7.5 billion in stock for GitHub. About 27 million software developers around the world use GitHub to share code and build businesses.

Target climbed 4.9% to $76.35. Walmart rose 2.9% to $85.42 after it agreed to sell an 80% stake in its struggling Brazilian business.

Energy firms lost ground as benchmark U.S. crude slid 1.6% to $64.75 a barrel. Brent crude fell 2% to $75.29 a barrel. Wholesale gasoline fell 1% to $2.12 a gallon. Heating oil slid 1.1% to $2.15 a gallon. Natural gas fell 1.1% to $2.93 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Nektar Therapeutics plunged 41.8% to $52.57 after it disclosed data from a potential treatment for pancreatic cancer. The San Francisco biotech firm’s stock had made huge gains since November. Shares of its partner Bristol-Myers Squibb fell 3.1% to $51.56.

Bond prices slipped. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.94% from 2.90%.

Gold fell 0.2% to $1,297.30 an ounce. Silver slipped 0.1% to $16.43 an ounce. Copper rose 1.2% to $3.13 a pound.

The dollar rose to 109.58 yen from 109.51 yen. The euro rose to $1.1719 from $1.1662.