The three major US stock indexes have closed higher as investors await the Federal Reserve's crucial policy meeting later this week.
Tesla shares climbed 3.6 per cent on Monday after regulatory filings revealed CEO Elon Musk had acquired nearly $US1 billion worth of the electric vehicle maker's stock on Friday. And Google parent Alphabet hit a record high and raced past $US3 trillion in market capitalisation.
The Federal Open Market Committee meeting on September 16 and 17 looms large over sentiment this week with market participants widely expecting a 25-basis-point reduction following recent economic data signalling labour market weakness.
“The market is counting on sort of a goldilocks scenario where the employment market is just weak enough to prompt the Federal Reserve to start a rate cutting series, not just one, without disrupting overall growth,” said BMO Family Office chief investment officer Carol Schleif.
“I think the markets will be disappointed if the Fed doesn’t give some hint that they intend to continue rate cuts.”
Traders on Monday are pricing in a 96 per cent chance of a 25-basis-point cut at this week's meeting.
Tesla's gains boosted the S&P 500 consumer discretionary sector 1.1 per cent to its highest level in nearly nine months. Meanwhile, Alphabet helped lift the communication services sector up 2.33 per cent.
Nvidia slipped 0.04 per cent after China's market regulator said it will continue an investigation into the AI chip leader after preliminary findings showed it had violated the country's anti-monopoly law.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 49.23 points, or 0.11 per cent, to 45,883.45, the S&P 500 gained 30.99 points, or 0.47 per cent, to 6,615.28 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 207.65 points, or 0.94 per cent, to 22,348.75.
Wall Street's three main indexes had logged weekly gains in the previous session, with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 hitting intraday record highs on Friday as technology-linked stocks remained resilient.
Declines in McDonald's and Procter & Gamble weighed on the Dow. CoreWeave jumped 7.6 per cent after the data center operator signed a deal with Nvidia guaranteeing the chipmaker will purchase any residual cloud capacity not sold to customers. The deal's initial value is $US6.3 billion. Kerrisdale Capital disclosed a short position on CoreWeave.
On the Nasdaq, advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.2-to-1 ratio. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.67-to-1 ratio on the NYSE.
The S&P 500 posted 23 new 52-week highs and 11 new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 117 new highs and 66 new lows. Volume on US exchanges was 17.68 billion shares, compared with the 16.2 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.
