U.S. stocks rose in early trading on Monday, though the Nasdaq
Composite pulled back from its 15-year high reached last week.
The
Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 54 points, or 0.3%, to 18184
shortly after the opening bell. The S&P 500 index gained four
points, or 0.2%, to 2112.
The Nasdaq slid seven points, or 0.1%, to 5019, though the index remains less than 1% away from its all-time closing record of 5048.62 last reached during the height of the dot-come bubble in 2000.
The move comes on the heels of a rally on Friday that lifted the Nasdaq Composite to a 15-year closing high. The S&P 500 then gained 0.9% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.9%. Stocks rose following a dovish statement from the Federal Reserve and a retreat in the U.S. dollar.
Following last week’s gains, major stock indexes are once again within closing distance of record highs. Both the Dow and the S&P 500 are less than 1% from all-time records reached in March. The Russell 2000 index notched a record as recently as Friday, though the small-cap index on Monday lost 0.1%.
Michael O’Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading thinks that swings in the currency markets are likely to continue to drive trading in stocks this week. The year’s strong advance in the dollar has tempered profit expectations from large U.S. companies and kept stocks in check, but last week’s dollar retreat helped lift equities.
“The move in the currency is driving a lot of the trading,” he said. “The dollar has appreciated tremendously. And we’ve seen it in the earnings already.”
Analysts surveyed by FactSet expect first-quarter earnings among S&P 500 companies to decline 5% from last year, according to FactSet, comparing with expectations of earnings growth of 3.8% as recently as December.
In economic news, data on existing home sales is due at 10 a.m. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expect sales to rise 1.7%.
Gold futures dipped 0.2% to $1182.50 an ounce. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 1.915% as prices rose.
