U.S. stocks rose on Monday as investors continued to shrug off prospects for faster Fed tightening amid hopes a strong labor market signals the U.S. economy remains healthy. What’s happening
The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
+0.39%
was up 274 points, or 0.8%, at 33,077.
The S&P 500
SPX,
+0.31%
rose 37 points, or 0.9%, to 4,182.
The Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
+0.43%
advanced 179 points, or 1.4%, to 12,837.
The Dow fell 0.1% last week, while the S&P 500 ticked up 0.4%, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 2.2%. The S&P 500 is up for three consecutive weeks but remains down 13% for the year to date.
What’s driving markets Since hitting its 2022 low in mid June, the S&P 500 was up 13% through Friday’s close after investors made bets that pessimism over corporate prospects, in the wake of surging inflation and tighter central bank monetary policy, was overdone. Read: A surging stock market is on the verge of signaling a ‘huge’ move — but there’s a catch Stocks initially sold off on Friday in the wake of a much stronger than expected U.S. jobs report for July, when investors fretted that the data gave the Federal Reserve more leeway to quicken the pace of interest rate hikes to damp inflation. But risk appetite has returned, with traders hoping that a robust labor market challenges recent evidence of a slowing U.S. economy and as a generally well-received second-quarter company earnings season comes to a close. The strong jobs report makes it more difficult for investors to entertain the idea the Fed will relent on its rate-hike plans anytime soon, said Chris Larkin, managing director for trading at E-Trade from Morgan Stanley, in emailed comments. “Investors may have been looking past this possibility during the recent rebound, so don’t be surprised to see volatility continue. Whether Friday’s market move was the beginning of a larger pivot remains uncertain and will be determined by this month’s upcoming data reads including this week’s inflationary data,” he said. See: Suddenly, stock-market investors are wrestling with ‘boomflation’ after hot July jobs report The market rally now faces some technical challenges, argued some observers. The S&P 500 surge of late has left its 14-day relative strength index, a closely watched momentum gauge, a …