NEW YORK: The S&P 500 and Dow registered record closing highs on Monday, with shares of technology companies and retailer Walmart gaining and as investors mostly brushed aside concerns about the U.S. Justice Department's criminal investigation of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
Shares of Walmart climbed 3%, boosting to the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq, where the retail giant moved its stock listing last month from the NYSE. Consumer staples rose 1.4% and led sector gainers, while technology also increased.
Walmart is set to join the Nasdaq-100 index on January 20, a shift that could draw in billions of dollars from passive index funds.
Stocks had opened lower on the news surrounding Powell. The Justice Department's threat of indictment, ostensibly focused on comments Powell made to Congress about a building renovation project, ramped up concerns about the Fed's independence.
Powell called the move a "pretext" to gain more influence over interest rates that President Donald Trump has pressed to cut sharply since he took office in January 2025.
"The news that Powell is being investigated by the Justice Department was basically telegraphed by Trump, and so I think the market is taking it in stride for now," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York.
"The fact that you had former Fed governors come out in support of Powell ... is also comforting to markets," he said.
Investors also are looking ahead to the fourth-quarter U.S. earnings season, Cardillo said.
Analysts see the technology sector leading S&P 500 earnings growth for the quarter, with a 26.5% year-over-year gain, according to LSEG data. They see overall S&P 500 companies' earnings for the quarter up 8.8% from a year ago. The reporting period unofficially begins Tuesday with results from JPMorgan Chase and other big banks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 86.13 points, or 0.17%, to 49,590.20, the S&P 500 gained 10.99 points, or 0.16%, to 6,977.27 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 62.56 points, or 0.26%, to 23,733.90.
Shares of lenders and credit card firms came under pressure after Trump called for a one-year cap on credit card interest rates at 10% starting on January 20.
Financials were down 0.8% on the day and led sector decliners in the S&P 500.
Citigroup tumbled 3%, while credit-card firm American Express fell 4.3%. Consumer finance firms also dropped, including Capital One, which ended down 6.4%.
Buy-now, pay-later firm Affirm Holdings fell 6.6%. Investors also await Tuesday's U.S. consumer price index report, which could influence the outlook for Fed rate cuts. Markets for now are betting on at least two more quarter-point cuts before year-end, according to LSEG data.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was 17.29 billion shares, compared with the 16.40 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.68-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 725 new highs and 48 new lows on the NYSE.
On the Nasdaq, 2,613 stocks rose and 2,144 fell as advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.22-to-1 ratio. - Reuters
