Nasdaq hits record as megacap tech stocks rise

The S&P 500 rose and the Nasdaq Composite reached an all-time high Monday as megacap technology shares advanced, The Korea Times reported.

The gains came as investors weighed enthusiasm for artificial intelligence and technology stocks against a 5.328 percent 10-year U.S. Treasury yield and broader concerns over debt, energy costs and geopolitical risks.

Nvidia gained 1.2 percent and stayed near its previous-session record, while Meta Platforms, Microsoft and Tesla rose between 1.6 percent and 2.4 percent, The Korea Times reported.

“The AI and tech story continues to drive the bus ... it is so strong that it can fight the headwind from higher interest rates,” Dennis Dick, founder and market structure analyst at Triple D Trading, told The Korea Times.

At 11:48 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 31.71 points, or 0.06 percent, at 51,145.25. The S&P 500 was up 38.67 points, or 0.50 percent, at 7,761.39, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 208.85 points, or 0.77 percent, at 27,399.71, according to The Korea Times.

Ten of the 11 S&P 500 sectors traded higher, led by communication services and energy, while real estate was the only sector lower. The Philadelphia chips index slipped 0.1 percent, while the S&P 500 software and services index rose 1.2 percent.

Goldman Sachs analysts expected most companies to “once again surpass consensus earnings estimates this quarter,” The Korea Times reported. Traders saw an 80 percent chance that the Federal Reserve would keep interest rates steady in October, according to the CME FedWatch tool cited by the publication.

Among individual movers, PTC jumped 34 percent after Schneider Electric agreed to buy it in a $22.6 billion all-cash deal. RXO rose 21.8 percent after C.H. Robinson Worldwide agreed to acquire it in a $5.8 billion stock-and-cash transaction, while C.H. Robinson fell 12.9 percent.

Market breadth was mixed: advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.05-to-1 ratio on both the NYSE and Nasdaq, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 31 new highs and 191 new lows, The Korea Times reported.