US stocks climbed on Monday led by a continuation of the ‘Trump trade’ in the roaring post-election rally rally as investors looked ahead to a fresh reading on inflation.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) led the way higher, up 400 points, or about 1%, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) moved up 0.3%. Both indexes are coming off their best week of the year, capped by record highs. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) hovered around the flatline as Nvidia (NVDA), Apple (AAPL) and Meta (META) lagged.
Markets on Veterans Day were building on all-time highs thanks in large part to expectations for lower corporate taxes and deregulation from President-elect Donald Trump. Spirits are also buoyant after the Federal Reserve’s latest interest-rate cut, though doubts about the rally’s staying power are starting to emerge.
Wall Street is waiting for October consumer inflation data on Wednesday for pointers to the path of rates. Last week, Chair Jerome Powell stayed mum on the Fed’s thinking in the face of Trump policies that could keep price pressures in play.
Read more: What the Fed rate cut means for bank accounts, CDs, loans, and credit cards
One worry is that Trump’s proposed tariffs could feed through into higher inflation, prompting the Fed to scale back on rate cuts. Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari said on Sunday that if there is an escalating “tit-for-tat” reaction by other countries, policymakers will “have to wait and see”.
Traders now see a 65% chance that the Fed lowers rates by another quarter percentage point in December, per the CME FedWatch Tool. A week ago, before the presidential election, the odds stood at almost 80%.
Meanwhile, bitcoin (BTC-USD) soared to top $82,000 for the first time, amid high hopes for a crypto-friendly Trump administration and Congress. Dogecoin (DOGE-USD) and other smaller digital currencies also gained as traders bet on Trump’s promise to make the US a leading light in crypto.
In corporates, Tesla (TSLA) shares — another “Trump trade” hot spot — continued to climb, up over 8%. The EV maker’s stock hit its highest close in over two years on Friday, topping $1 trillion in market value amid optimism over CEO Elon Musk’s relationship with the incoming president.
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