US stocks rise to the edge of an all-time high
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rose to the edge of their all-time high on Monday after a couple buyout announcements helped lift the market.
The S&P 500 climbed 0.7% and pulled within 0.3% of its record, which was set during the summer. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 90 points, or 0.2%, while the Nasdaq composite rallied 1.1% to set its own record.
PTC helped lead the market after leaping 33.5%. Schneider Electric of France said it would pay $205 in cash for each of the software company’s shares in a deal valuing it at about $22.6 billion.
The proposed deal helped lift prices for other stocks in the software industry, and Autodesk rose 4.5%.
RXO, meanwhile, jumped 22.5% after C.H. Robinson Worldwide said it would buy the truck brokerage business in a deal where RXO investors could get $30.25 in cash for each of their shares. C.H. Robinson fell 10.8% for the largest loss in the S&P 500.
Both Schneider Electric and C.H. Robinson mentioned the promise of artificial-intelligence technology when announcing their deals, and stocks across the AI industry were strong.
A 2.1% gain for Nvidia, whose chips are powering much of the move into AI, was the single strongest force lifting the S&P 500. Broadcom, meanwhile, climbed 2.1%.
Trading was otherwise relatively quiet as the wait continues for the start of the latest earnings reporting season.
Analysts have big expectations for how much profit companies made from July through September. They’re forecasting growth of nearly 30% from a year earlier for companies in the S&P 500, according to FactSet. If they’re correct, it would be the third straight quarter of growth above 25% for the index.
Such strong growth is what’s allowed stocks to rally near records despite a long list of worries and challenges.
All told, the S&P 500 rose 51.23 points to 7,773.95. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 90.94 to 51,267.90, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 286.45 to 27,477.31.
Monday’s moves came as the oil market continued to swing because of uncertainty about when the war with Iran will allow the global crude industry to return to normal. The price for a barrel of Brent crude veered between $100 and $103 before settling at $100.32, down 1.9%.
Worries about high oil prices have helped push up yields in the bond market, and the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield rose to 5.31% from 5.28% late Friday. It almost got to 5.35% earlier in the day and is near its highest level since 2002.
High yields can slow the economy by making it more expensive for everyone to borrow money, while also making investors less willing to pay high prices for stocks and other investments.
Another factor pushing up yields is the strength of the U.S. economy, which is benefiting from big spending by businesses on AI data centers. U.S. consumers also continue to spend and drive the economy, even though they’re getting more frustrated by the high inflation that’s squeezing their finances.
A report on Monday gave a mixed update on the strength of the U.S. economy. It said that activity for real estate, transportation, finance and other businesses in the services industries grew in September for a 27th straight month. But the growth was not as strong as economists expected.
The report from the Institute for Supply Management also said that prices U.S. services businesses are paying for materials and services grew at a faster rate, which could be a discouraging signal for upcoming inflation.
The general expectation on Wall Street is that the Federal Reserve will hike its main interest rate at least once by the end of the year in hopes of reining in the fast increases for the cost of living. The Fed raised its federal funds rate last month for the first time in three years.
In stock markets abroad, France’s CAC 40 fell 0.8% for one of the world’s bigger losses. Worries have been rising about the French government’s big debt and its strained budget.
On the winning side of the globe was Japan, where Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 jumped 2.4% on strength for technology stocks.
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AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Michelle Chapman contributed to this report.
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