New York – U.S. stocks are rising Monday and adding to the gains made during their best week of the year.
The S&P 500 was up 0.3% in early trading, coming off a 4.7% spurt last week spurred by Donald Trump’s presidential victory and a cut to interest rates by the Federal Reserve to bolster the economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 338 points, or 0.8%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.3% higher.
Tesla was the strongest single force pushing the S&P 500 higher after rising 8.4%. Its leader, Elon Musk, has become a close ally of Trump’s, and its stock jumped nearly 15% the day after the election and has kept rising.
Several pieces of what’s known as the “Trump trade” also continued to drive the market, as investors try to identify which industries will be winners under a second Trump term. JPMorgan Chase’s 1.6% rise was another one of the largest forces pushing the market higher. Bank stocks broadly continue to benefit from expectations for stronger economic growth, less regulation from Washington and an increase in mergers and acquisitions.
A White House more friendly to big tie-ups has Wall Street speculating about a merger between insurers Cigna Group and Humana, for example. It’s been so feverish that Cigna said Monday it isn’t pursuing a deal with Humana. Cigna’s stock rose 6.4%, and Humana’s sank 4.2%.
Stocks of companies more focused on the U.S. economy were also rising more than the rest of the market, including a 1.1% rally for the smaller stocks in the Russell 2000 index, because they’re seen as benefiting more from Trump’s America First policies than big multinational companies. And the stock that’s most intertwined with Trump’s own popularity, Trump Media & Technology Group, rose 4.1% as he starts his transition back to the White House in earnest.
Some of the sharpest swings were in the crypto market, where bitcoin rose above $82,000 for the first time. Trump has embraced cryptocurrencies generally and pledged to make his country the crypto capital of the world. Bitcoin hit a record of $82,493 in early trading, according to CoinDesk.
Another Trump trade has been a rise in Treasury yields, as traders anticipate potentially higher economic growth, U.S. government debt and inflation because of Trump’s policies. But trading in the bond market is closed Monday in observance of Veterans Day.
Treasury yields been generally climbing since September, in large part because the U.S. economy has remained much more resilient than feared. The hope is that it can continue to stay solid as the Federal Reserve continues to cut interest rates in order to keep the job market humming, now that it’s helped get inflation nearly down to its 2% target.
But Trump’s win has scrambled expectations for coming cuts to rates. Traders have already begun paring forecasts for how many cuts to rates the Fed will deliver next year because of that. While lower rates can boost the economy, they can also give inflation more fuel.
Stock markets abroad have swung following Trump’s election amid worries about increased tariffs and disruptions to global trade.
Indexes were mixed Monday, with European markets rising while South Korea’s and Hong Kong’s sank.
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AP Writer Zimo Zhong in Hong Kong contributed to this report.
