Stock market today: S&P 500, Nasdaq notch longest win streaks of 2024 as August turnaround continues
US stocks closed at session highs on Monday after posting their best week in a year as the markets continued to rally in a sharp turnaround from their early August sell-off.
The S&P 500 (
^GSPC
) rose nearly 1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (
^DJI
) also gained 0.6%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (
^IXIC
) increased roughly more than 1.4%.
Technology and Consumer Discretionary stocks led the gains, as the S&P 500 stretched its daily wins to eight, its longest streak since November of last year, according to Bespoke Investment data. The Nasdaq also logged its an eighth consecutive session win as shares of chip heavyweight Nvidia (
NVDA
) and Tesla (
TSLA
) rallied.
Stocks rose following last week's strong gains as a measure of calm returns to a market previously whipsawed by worries about a potential recession. Last week's rally
recouped the losses
stacked up in an early August sell-off as Wall Street fretted about cracks in the economy — concerns that have since been eased by
encouraging inflation
and
consumer spending
data.
Focus is already turning to Fed Chair Jerome Powell's
speech at the central bank's Jackson Hole
symposium on Friday in a quiet week for economic data. As confidence in a "soft landing" for the economy grows — Goldman Sachs now sees a
lower likelihood of recession
— the
question for investors
isn't whether the
Fed will lower interest rates
in September but by how much.
As of Monday morning,
traders were pricing in
a 72% chance the Fed will reduce rates by 0.25% at that meeting and 28% odds for a 0.50% cut, according to the CME FedWatch tool. But the release on Wednesday of minutes from the Fed's July meeting could sway those bets.
Meanwhile, investors will also keep a watchful eye on the Democratic National Convention, which kicks off on Monday and could bring more insight into
what to expect from presidential nominee Kamala Harris
.