After initially displaying a lack of clear direction, stocks experienced an upward trend throughout Monday's trading session. Building on Friday's strong gains, the major indices continued to recover from last Wednesday's sell-off.
Both the Nasdaq and S&P 500 decisively entered positive territory as the day unfolded, though the narrower Dow posted a more modest increase. The Nasdaq leapt by 192.29 points, or 1.0 percent, reaching 19,764.89. The S&P 500 increased by 43.22 points, or 0.7 percent, to 5,974.07, while the Dow advanced by 66.69 points, or 0.2 percent, settling at 42,906.95.
The Nasdaq's rise was propelled by a rally in semiconductor stocks, highlighted by a 3.1 percent surge in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. Additionally, computer hardware stocks showed notable strength, with the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index posting a 1.5 percent gain.
Beyond the tech sector, pharmaceutical stocks put in a robust performance, pushing the NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical Index up by 2.1 percent. Nevertheless, trading activity was generally subdued, as traders appeared cautious about making substantial moves amid an expectedly quiet week, given the Christmas holiday on Wednesday.
Moreover, markets are set to close earlier than usual on Tuesday for Christmas Eve, likely resulting in lower-than-average trading activity. The uncertainty surrounding the short-term market outlook may have also caused some traders to remain on the sidelines, following last week’s volatility.
In U.S. economic news, the Commerce Department reported a sharper-than-anticipated decline in new orders for manufactured durable goods in November. Orders plummeted by 1.1 percent compared to October's revised increase of 0.8 percent, exceeding economists' expectations of a 0.4 percent decline following the previously reported 0.3 percent rise. Excluding transportation equipment, durable goods orders slightly decreased by 0.1 percent in November after a 0.2 percent uptick in October, against forecasts of a 0.3 percent increase.
Conversely, orders for non-defense capital goods, excluding aircraft—a critical indicator of business investment—rose by 0.7 percent in November, recovering from a 0.1 percent dip in October.
In a separate report, the Conference Board disclosed an unexpected dip in consumer confidence for December. The consumer confidence index fell to 104.7, down from a revised 112.8 in November, surprising economists who anticipated a rise to 113.0 from the initially reported 111.7.
Internationally, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region mostly advanced on Monday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 climbing 1.2 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rising by 0.8 percent. In Europe, results were mixed; the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged up by 0.2 percent, while France’s CAC 40 Index slightly fell, and Germany's DAX Index decreased by 0.2 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries moved lower, reversing Friday's gains. The yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which inversely correlates with its price, jumped 7.5 basis points to a nearly seven-month peak of 4.599 percent.
Looking ahead, the abbreviated session on Tuesday might see choppy trading due to a lack of significant U.S. economic data, as markets prepare for the Christmas holiday break on Wednesday.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company - www.instaforex.com
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