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Major tech and communications stocks posted solid gains in afternoon trading on Wall Street on Monday, helping the broader market rise.
The S&P 500 was up 0.5% as of 1:54 p.m. East. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 22 points, or 0.1%, to 34,842 and the Nasdaq rose 1.6%.
More stocks were losing value than gains within the S&P 500 benchmark, but major tech and communications stocks lifted the heavy load to offset losses elsewhere. Tech companies tend to have more weight in pushing the market up or down with their expensive share values.
Twitter rose 29.7% after the company announced that Tesla’s Elon Musk bought a 9.2% stake in the social media platform. In recent weeks, Musk has publicly questioned the company’s commitment to free speech. Earnings were a key factor in lifting the broader communications industry and keeping the S&P 500 in the green.
Investors continue to monitor the conflict in Ukraine, where Russia could face even tougher economic sanctions as details emerge of the deliberate killing of civilians.
Joining a growing chorus of international criticism of the alleged atrocities, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said the 27-nation bloc would “work on additional sanctions against Russia as a matter of urgency”.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has raised concerns about rising inflation and its impact on global economic growth. Prices for everything from food to clothing were already rising, and the war made energy prices even more volatile.
The price of US benchmark crude rose 3% and Brent crude, the international standard, rose 2.1%. Prices rose roughly 40% globally, putting pressure on costs for gasoline and other goods.
Bond yields mostly gained ground. The 10-year Treasury’s yield rose to 2.40% from 2.38% late Friday. The two-year Treasury rate remained flat at 2.44%.
The two-year yield stays above the 10-year yield, a potentially sinister sign. This shift of the usual relationship between two- and 10-year returns has preceded many recessions in the past, although it’s not a perfect prediction. Some market watchers point out that the signal may be less accurate this time, due to the deterioration in yields caused by the extraordinary measures taken by the Federal Reserve and other central banks to keep interest rates low.
Bond yields are gaining ground all year as Wall Street prepares higher interest rates. The Federal Reserve has increased its key overnight interest rate for the first time since 2018. The central bank is expected to continue raising rates throughout 2022 to counter the effects of rising inflation.
The Fed will release the minutes of its last meeting on Wednesday.
Markets in Europe closed on the rise. Asian markets also rose 2.1% after Hong Kong’s Hang Seng said regulators in Beijing planned to review rules on overseas regulators’ access to full audits of companies with shares traded overseas.
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