U.S. Stocks Move Mostly Higher On Trump's Positive Comments About Trade Talks With China

(RTTNews) - Following the mixed performance seen during last Friday's session, stocks have moved mostly higher during trading on Monday. The major averages have all moved to the upside, with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reaching new record intraday highs.

Currently, the major averages are just off their best levels of the day. The Nasdaq is up 158.94 points or 0.7 percent at 22,300.04, the S&P 500 is up 33.62 points or 0.5 percent at 6,617.91 and the Dow is up 119.87 points or 0.3 percent at 45,954.09.

The strength on Wall Street comes following positive comments from President Donald Trump about trade talks between top U.S. and Chinese officials in Europe.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said that the talks have "gone VERY WELL!" adding that a "deal was also reached on a 'certain' company that young people in our Country very much wanted to save," likely referring to Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok.

Trump also said that he will be speaking with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday and described the relationship as "a very strong one."

Meanwhile, traders also continue to look ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.

With recent data showing relatively subdued inflation and a weakening labor market, the Fed is widely expected to lower interest rates by at least a quarter point.

CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating a 96.4 percent chance the Fed will cut rates by 25 basis points and a slim 3.6 percent chance of a half-point rate cut.

Traders are likely to pay close attention to the Fed's accompanying statement as well as Fed Chair Jerome Powell's post-meeting comments for clues about the likelihood of further rate cuts.

Currently, the Fed is widely expected to lower rates by another 25 basis points at both its October and December meetings, although Powell is likely to say future rate cuts will depend on incoming economic data.

Sector News

Computer hardware stocks are turning in some of the market's best performances on the day, with the NSYE Arca Computer Hardware Index surging by 2.6 percent to a record intraday high.

Significant strength is also visible among networking stock, as reflected by the 2.0 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Networking Index.

Steel, gold and oil service stocks are also seeing notable strength, while airline, housing and pharmaceutical stocks have moved to the downside.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index advanced by 0.9 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index fell by 0.3 percent.

Meanwhile, European stocks have moved mostly higher on the day. The French CAC 40 Index is up by 1.0 percent and the German DAX Index is up by 0.3 percent, although the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is just below the unchanged line.

In the bond market, treasuries are seeing modest strength following the pullback seen in the previous session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 1.7 basis points at 4.043 percent.