U.S. stocks add to all-time high with more gains on Monday
U.S. stocks rising Monday to add to their all-time highs.
The S&P 500 rose 45 point, or 0.8% on Monday, building on its record set on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average came back from an early loss to rise 201 points and add 0.5% to its own record, while the Nasdaq composite rose nearly 1%.
The U.S. bond market remained closed for the day because of the Monday holiday.
Stocks have broadly rallied to records on relief that interest rates are finally heading back down, now that the Federal Reserve has widened its focus to include keeping the economy humming instead of just fighting high inflation. Recent reports showing the U.S. economy remains stronger than expected have also raised optimism that the Fed can pull off a perfect landing where it gets inflation down to 2% without causing a recession that many had thought would be necessary.
SoFi Technologies rose 11.1% after announcing a $2 billion loan platform agreement with investment firm Fortress Investment Group, where SoFi will refer pre-qualified borrowers.
Longboard Pharmaceuticals soared 51.2% after H. Lundbeck, a Danish company, said it would buy the biopharmaceutical company in an all-cash deal valuing it at $2.6 billion.
On the losing side of Wall Street, Boeing lost 1% in its first trading since the aerospace giant warned that it expects to report that it burned through $1.3 billion in cash during the latest quarter and lost $9.97 per share. Boeing also said it was laying off 10% of its workforce as it tries to deal with a strike that is crippling production of the company's best-selling airline planes.
Bank of America, Johnson and Johnson and UnitedHealth Group will all report their latest results on Tuesday. Later in the week will come United Airlines, Netflix, American Express and Procter & Gamble.
Solid, continued growth in profits for companies would help tamp down criticism that's built up about how expensive the broad stock market looks, after share prices ran higher faster than earnings.
Concerns heading into the election
As stocks continue to rise, analysts at VitalKnowldge warn of a market that could do more than "move sideways" into the election.
"In addition to our complaints about valuation (the [S&P 500 Index] is approaching 22x the top-down [earnings per share] consensus for 2025 of $268), we're growing increasingly worried that rather than being a bullish cathartic moment, the election could instead spur a sell-the-news response (especially if this rally continues into 11/5) as investors quickly turn their attention to the massive fiscal challenges facing Washington in 2025," Adam Crisafulli of Vital Knowledge said in a note to investors.
___
AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.
