US stocks rise as tech sector rebounds
The Nasdaq closed sharply higher on Monday as Tesla surged on optimism around artificial intelligence and investors awaited inflation data due later this week. Tesla rallied 10 percent after Morgan Stanley upgraded the electric car maker to "overweight" from "equal-weight," saying its Dojo supercomputer could boost the company's market value by nearly US$600 billion. Other megacaps also rose, with Amazon climbing 3.5 percent and Microsoft adding 1.1 percent. Meta Platforms jumped 3.25 percent after a report on Sunday said the social media platform was working on a new, more powerful AI system. Walt Disney added 1.2 percent and Charter Communications rose 3.2 percent after they reached a deal for Disney's programming, including ESPN, to return to the Spectrum cable service just hours ahead of the start of NFL "Monday Night Football." Investors are looking to August consumer price index data due on Wednesday for clues about how close the Federal Reserve may be to ending its campaign of interest rate hikes. That will be followed by producer price data on Thursday. A New York Fed survey showed Americans' overall views on inflation were little changed in August, as they predicted rising costs for homes and food, while expecting bleaker personal financial health. "What we're seeing is a lot of positive sentiment that is really tied to bullishness around the likely CPI and PPI numbers being more in line with moderation," said Greg Bassuk, chief executive officer of AXS Investments in New York. "As long as the inflation numbers for August come in within the band of expectations, we're going to see the Fed move away from additional rate hikes." Wall Street logged weekly losses on Friday after a recent uptick in oil prices and stronger-than-expected economic data fueled concerns of sticky inflation and interest rates staying higher for longer. The S&P 500 climbed 0.67 percent to end at 4,487. The Nasdaq gained 1.14 percent at 13,918 points, while Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.25 percent to 34,664 points. (Reuters)_____________________________
Last updated: 2023-09-12 HKT 08:43 