Wall Street’s main stock indexes on Monday were boosted by gains in megacap growth stocks ahead of a busy week of earnings and interest rate decisions from major central banks including the Federal Reserve.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 354 points, or 1.1%, to 32,782, the Nasdaq climbed 0.9% and the S&P 500 was up 0.8%.
Major technology and growth names such as Nvidia, Amazon, Meta Platforms, Alphabet and Tesla were up between 1.3% and nearly 3%.
Aiding gains, McDonald’s rose 0.7% after beating estimates for third-quarter profit and sales.
Onsemi sank 14.5% after the chipmaker forecast fourth-quarter revenue and profit below estimates.
Apple, Pfizer and Eli Lilly would be some of the major Wall Street companies reporting later in the week.
The Fed is widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged at the end of its policy meeting on Nov. 1, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool.
However, certain parts of the economy have proved to be resilient, spurring concerns that Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s central bank could signal willingness to hold rates at their current level for longer than previously anticipated.
The October non-farm payrolls report due on Friday will be amongst the latest tests of the resilience of the world’s largest economy.
The Bank of England and the Bank of Japan would also be announcing their verdict on rates later in the week.
In the Middle East, Israeli troops and tanks attacked Gaza’s main northern city from the east and west on Monday, three days after it began ground operations in the Palestinian enclave.
“On Friday going into this ground offensive, investors were really risk averse. So now because the offensive is not as big as everyone expected, on the margin this is good news for markets,” said Anthi Tsouvali, multi-asset strategist at State Street Global Markets.
Geopolitical concerns as well as a surge in Treasury yields have weighed on US equities this month, dragging the benchmark S&P 500 around 10% from its intraday high in July.
Meanwhile, the US Treasury is likely to boost the size of auctions for bills, notes, and bonds in the fourth quarter when it announces its financing plans this week to fund a worsening budget deficit. A subsequent rise in yields may further pressure stocks.
Western Digital jumped 8.1% as the memory chipmaker disclosed plans to separate itself into two independent public companies, while Revvity shed 15.1% on cutting its full-year forecast.