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Bloomberg
US stocks rose for a fourth day, with technology shares leading the advance as investors awaited fresh catalysts after digesting solid American economic data and inconclusive trade talks in Washington.
The S&P 500 overcame morning weakness to push higher, while Nvidia, Adobe, Microsoft and Apple led the Nasdaq indexes to solid advances. Alphabet reports earnings after the closing bell. President Donald Trump over the weekend told US television broadcasting company CBS that trade talks with Beijing are “ doing very well†and sounded confident an agreement with North Korea was on the horizon. European equities eked out a fifth gain for the longest rally since November. In Asia, trading was subdued as much of the region headed into Lunar New Year holidays.
“The S&P 500 was priced for perfection in the economy, earnings and Fed, and while we’ve seen a lot of positive improvement, we’re a long way from that right now,†Tom Essaye, a former Merrill Lynch trader who founded “The Sevens Report†market newsletter, said.
After a busy few days that included relatively dovish Federal Reserve comments and US-China trade talks in Washington, there’s a notable lack of drivers for markets on Monday, particularly in Asia, where China is off and other markets will be shut for days. Investors may again look for direction from a corporate earnings season that’s been mixed so far.
Elsewhere, Venezuela’s defaulted 2027 bonds fell as Spain, Germany and the UK led a host of European countries in recognising National Assembly leader Juan Guaido as the country’s interim president on Monday.
The S&P 500 Index rose 0.3% as of 12:30 pm New York time, while Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.9% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.2%. The Stoxx Europe 600
declined 0.3%, the first drop in five trading sessions.