WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks have moved mostly higher during trading on Monday, with the major averages all moving to the upside after ending last Friday's choppy trading session narrowly mixed. With the upward move, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 have reached new record intraday highs.
Currently, the major averages are just off their best levels of the day. The Nasdaq is up 155.23 points or 0.7 percent at 21,050.89, the S&P 500 is up 32.32 points or 0.5 percent at 6,329.11 and the Dow is up 142.69 points or 0.3 percent at 44,484.88.
The strength on Wall Street may reflect optimism about potential trade deals, with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick saying he is confident the U.S. will reach an agreement with the European Union.
'These are the two biggest trading partners in the world, talking to each other. We'll get a deal done,' Lutnick said in an interview with CBS News over the weekend. 'I am confident we'll get a deal done.'
However, Lutnick also described August 1st as a 'hard deadline' for new 'reciprocal tariffs' on U.S. trade partners to take effect.
'Nothing stops countries from talking to us after August 1st, but they're going to start paying the tariffs on August 1st,' he said.
Traders are also looking ahead of the release of earnings news from several big-name companies this week, including Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL), Tesla (TSLA) and Intel (INTC).
On the U.S. economic front, a report released by the Conference Board showed its reading on leading U.S. economic indicators fell by slightly more than expected in the month of June.
The Conference Board said its leading economic index declined by 0.3 percent in June following a revised unchanged reading in May.
Economists had expected the leading economic index to slip by 0.2 percent compared to the 0.1 percent dip originally reported for the previous month.
Sector News
Gold stocks have shown a substantial move to the upside on the day, resulting in a 4.1 percent spike by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index.
The rally by gold stocks comes amid a sharp increase by the price of the precious metal, with gold for August delivery jumping $57.20 to $3,415.50 an ounce.
Substantial strength is also visible among steel stocks, as reflected by the 3.0 percent surge by the NYSE Arca Steel Index.
Telecom and semiconductor stocks are also seeing some strength on the day, while natural gas stocks have shown a notable move to the downside.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance on Monday, with Japanese markets closed for a holiday. China's Shanghai Composite Index climbed by 0.7 percent, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index slumped by 1.0 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.5 percent, the German DAX Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index are both down by 0.1 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have moved notably higher over the course of the session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 7.1 basis points at 4.360 percent.
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