Stock Market Today: Wall Street Climbs to Record Highs as Momentum Continues

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks advanced toward record highs Monday as momentum from Wall Street continued to lift them.

The S&P 500 index was up 0.5% in early trading and on track to surpass its all-time high set Wednesday. It has just posted its 10th week of gains in the past 12, buoyed in large part by expectations that inflation is slowing enough to convince the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates soon.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 273 points, or 0.7%, also on track to set a record, as of 9:35 a.m. ET, while the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.6%.

Some of the best-performing markets are those that do best when former President Donald Trump's reelection chances look brighter. Trump Media & Technology Group, the company behind Trump's Truth Social platform, soared 36.6%. Bitcoin climbed back above $62,000 after Trump, who has run as a candidate in favor of cryptocurrenciesSurvived an assassination attempt during the weekend.

According to Isaac Boltansky, director of political research at BTIG, Trump could experience a reactionary surge in support in the polls, as President Ronald Reagan did in 1981, and Trump's defiance after the attack could be the defining image of this election cycle.

Long-term Treasury yields have also risen relative to short-term yields, with the 10-year Treasury yield climbing from 4.19% to 4.21% last Friday. Something similar has happened after the last few months debate between Trump and President Joe Biden, as traders made moves in anticipation of a Republican victory in November that could lead to policies that further increase the US government's debt.

Shares of major financial companies, which could benefit from lighter regulation under a Republican administration, were mixed after their latest financial results.

Investment bank Goldman Sachs rose 1.5% after reporting profit and revenue that beat analysts’ expectations in the latest quarter. BlackRock, the asset manager behind iShares exchange-traded funds, fell 0.2% after beating earnings forecasts but missing revenue slightly.

Expectations are high heading into earnings season, which unofficially kicked off last week. Analysts expect S&P 500 companies to grow 9.3% from a year earlier, according to FactSet. That would be the strongest growth in more than two years.

Those expectations were one of the forces that pushed U.S. stocks to record highs. So were encouraging reports on inflation, which showed a slowdown enough that most Wall Street analysts expect the Federal Reserve to begin cutting its key interest rate in September.

For nearly a year, the Fed has kept its key interest rate at its highest level in more than two decades. Lower interest rates would relieve pressure that has built up on the economy due to the high cost of borrowing to finance savings. buy housescars or anything on credit cardFed officials, however, have said They want to see more reliable inflation data before acting.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will speak later in the day at the Economic Club of Washington on Monday.

On Wall Street, U.S.-listed shares of Burberry fell 17.9% after the British luxury fashion house announced appointed Joshua SchulmanFormer CEO of Michael Kors and Coach, Schulman has been named CEO of the brand. Schulman, 52, replaces Jonathan Akeroyd.

The surprise announcement comes as Burberry said its first-quarter revenue was down 21% and it suspended its dividend.

In overseas stock markets, Chinese indices were mixed after China reported that its economy grew at a slower-than-expected pace in the last quarter, as the ruling Communist Party opened a 10-year meeting to set economic policy.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 1.5%, while Shanghai stocks rose 0.1%.

The indices were mostly lower in Europe.