Tech Stocks Leading Rebound On Wall Street Ahead Of Fed Meeting

Stocks have shown a strong move to the upside during trading on Monday, regaining ground after trending lower over the past few sessions. The major averages have all moved higher, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the advance.

Currently, the major averages are hovering near their best levels of the day. The Nasdaq is up 251.66 points or 1.6 percent at 16,224.84, the S&P 500 is up 53.90 points or 1.1 percent at 5,170.99 and the Dow is up 157.63 points or 0.4 percent at 38,872.40.

Technology stocks have helped lead the rebound on Wall Street, as reflected by the standout gain being posted by the Nasdaq.

Shares of Alphabet (GOOGL) are surging by 6.9 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) is also seeing significant strength ahead of its GTC Conference, where the chipmaker is expected to provide updates on its AI initiatives.

Meanwhile, traders continue 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.

Sector News

Despite the significant rally by the broader markets, most of the major sectors are showing only modest moves on the day.

Semiconductor stocks are seeing considerable strength, however, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index climbing by 1.2 percent.

Software and retail stocks are also seeing some strength on the day, while gold stocks have moved to the downside.

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 have moved modestly lower on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.3 percent, the German DAX Index is down by 0.1 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is just below the unchanged line.

In the bond market, treasuries are extending 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, is up by 2.4 basis points at 4.328 percent.