U.S. Stocks Move Modestly Higher Ahead Of Inflation Data, Powell Testimony

Stocks have moved modestly higher during trading on Monday, adding to the strong gains posted last week. The major averages have all moved to the upside on the day, although buying interest has been somewhat subdued.

Currently, the Nasdaq is up 59.63 points or 0.3 percent at 18,412.39, the Dow is up 58.06 points or 0.2 percent at 39,433.93 and the S&P 500 is up 7.20 points or 0.1 percent at 5,574.39.

The modest strength on Wall Street partly reflects optimism about the outlook for interest rates ahead of several key economic events this week.

While the economic calendar gets off to a slow start today, reports on consumer and producer prices in June will be in the spotlight in the coming days.

The Labor Department’s report on consumer prices is expected to show a slowdown in the pace of annual price growth, which could bolster optimism about a rate cut in September.

Traders are also likely to pay close attention to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s congressional testimony this week, looking for clues about the interest rate outlook.

Networking stocks are turning in some of the market’s best performances on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Networking Index up by 2.0 percent to a nearly five-month intraday high.

Semiconductor and computer hardware stocks are also seeing considerable strength contributing to the uptick by the tech-heavy Nasdaq.

Reflecting the relatively lackluster performance by the broader markets, most of the other major sectors are showing only modest moves.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Monday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index fell by 0.3 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index slid by 0.9 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index tumbled by 1.6 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets are turning in a mixed performance on the day. While the German DAX Index is up by 0.1 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.1 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.4 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries are giving back ground after trending higher over the past several sessions. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 1.5 basis points at 4.287 percent.

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