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The Dow and S&P 500 pushed to fresh records Monday, extending a positive stretch in anticipation of more central bank easing.
Analysts pointed to a boost after China’s central bank cut its 14-day lending rate, a move that comes on the heels of last week’s largest interest rate cut by the US Federal Reserve.
Easing monetary policy is “supportive for equities,” said LBBW’s Karl Haeling, who expects US officials could accelerate rate cuts if the labor market weakens.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 0.2 percent at 42,124.65, its third record in a row.
The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.3 percent to 4,718.57, its second record in three days, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.1 percent at 17,974.27.
The records extend a positive run after the Fed on September 18 enacted its first interest rate cut in more than four years.
This week’s calendar includes August orders for durable goods and the personal consumption expenditures price index, also for August, a leading benchmark in Fed analysis.
But Fed policymakers have shifted their focus from inflation to the labor market, with the next major reading on employment not coming until early October.
Among individual companies, Intel jumped 3.3 percent following a report that Apollo Global Management could inject up to $5 billion in capital into the company.
On Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Intel was approached about a takeover by Qualcomm.
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