U.S. Stocks Give Back Ground After Early Rally But Close Mostly Higher

After showing a strong move to the upside early in the session, stocks gave back some ground over the course of the trading day on Monday but managed to close mostly higher. With the upward move, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 regained ground after closing lower for three straight sessions.

While the major averages came under pressure going into the close, they managed to end the day in positive territory. The Nasdaq advanced 130.27 points or 0.8 percent at 16,103.45, the S&P 500 climbed 32.33 points or 0.6 percent to 5,149.42 and the Dow rose 75.66 points or 0.2 percent at 38,790.43.

Technology stocks helped lead the early rally on Wall Street, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq showing a particularly strong move to the upside.

Shares of Alphabet (GOOGL) surged by 4.6 percent after a report from Bloomberg said Apple (AAPL) is in talks to build Google’s Gemini artificial intelligence engine into the iPhone.

Nvidia (NVDA) also jumped early in the session ahead of its GTC Conference, where the chipmaker is expected to provide updates on its AI initiatives, but gave back ground before ending the day up by 0.7 percent.

At the same time, shares of Super Micro Computer (SMCI) plunged by 6.4 percent after the information technology company was added to the S&P 500 before the start of trading.

Meanwhile, traders continued to look ahead to the Federal Reserve’s two-day monetary policy meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, but the central bank’s accompanying statement and economic projections could have a significant impact on the outlook for rates.

Recent hotter-than-expected inflation readings have reduced optimism about the likelihood of the Fed’s first rate cut coming in June.

In U.S. economic news, a report released by the National Association of Home Builders showed an unexpected improvement in U.S. homebuilder confidence in the month of March.

The report said the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index rose to 51 in March from 48 in February. Economists had expected the index to come in unchanged.

With the unexpected increase, the housing market index surpassed the breakeven point of 50 for the first time since hitting 56 last July.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Monday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index surged by 2.7 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index jumped by 1.0 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved modestly lower on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index dipped by 0.2 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index edged down by 0.1 percent and the German DAX Index closed just below the unchanged line.

In the bond market, treasuries extended the downward trend seen throughout the previous week. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, climbed 3.6 basis points to a three-month closing high of 4.340 percent.

Looking Ahead

Trading activity on Tuesday may be somewhat subdued as traders look ahead to the Fed announcement, although a report on new residential construction may attract some attention.

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