Strong gains for technology stocks send Wall Street higher

Stocks marched higher again on Monday, as Wall Street extended its gains from last week’s rally, the market’s best in three months.

The S&P 500 rose 1.6%, following up on strengthening in stock markets around the world. Big Tech stocks, including Apple and Microsoft, powered much of the gains. Their businesses have proven to be practically impervious to the pandemic, unlike companies that would benefit from a strengthening economy.

The market’s latest upward push came as Wall Street appeared to largely shrug off the latest signs that Democrats and Republicans are no closer to reaching a deal on more aid for the economy, which remains hobbled by the pandemic. Over the weekend, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi criticized the latest offer from the Trump administration on a stimulus package as “one step forward, two steps back,” while the president’s fellow Republicans called it too expensive.

Investors may be betting that Congress will deliver a more generous aid bill after the election, should Democrats regain the majority in Congress, as some polls suggest.

“The market is expressing some comfort with Democrats taking the White House and the Senate, if it means that there will be more stimulus,” said Willie Delwiche, investment strategist at Baird. “But the reality is it’s several months away before anything could get passed. It does raise a question in my mind whether or not some of this is too much, too soon in terms of the market anticipating stimulus at this point.”

The S&P 500 rose 57.09 points, to 3,534.22. The benchmark index is on a four-day winning streak and is now within 1.4% of its all-time high set Sept. 2. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 250.62 points, or 0.9%, to 28,837.52. The Nasdaq composite, which is heavily weighted with technology stocks, gained 296.32 points, or 2.6%, to 11,876.26.

Apple climbed 6.4% and alone accounted for a quarter of the S&P 500’s rise. The iPhone maker also was the index’s biggest gainer. Amazon rose 4.8%. Both companies have events coming up this week, with Apple expected to unveil its latest batch of iPhones on Tuesday and Amazon holding its Prime Day on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Microsoft also closed higher, rising 2.6%, Facebook added 4.3% and Google’s parent company gained 3.6%.

The Russell 2000 index of small-cap stocks, which tends to move more with expectations for the economy’s strength than Big Tech companies, notched more modest gains than the rest of the market. The index picked up 11.51 points, or 0.7%, to 1,649.05.

Mondays gains add to last week’s 3.8% rally for the S&P 500, which came amid a dizzying 360-degree spin on expectations for Congress and the White House to be able to deliver more aid for the economy.

President Donald Trump said early in the week he’d put a halt to negotiations on stimulus, even though economists and the chair of the Federal Reserve say the economic recovery likely needs it. He then backed a set of more limited programs before admonishing negotiators at the end of the week to “Go Big!” His administration unveiled its latest, increased proposal to House Democrats, valued at about $1.8 trillion, but it was rejected by Democrats over the weekend.

This week also marks the start of earnings reporting season for big U.S. companies, where CEOs will tell investors how they fared from July through September. Analysts are forecasting another quarter of weaker profits, with S&P 500 earnings expected to be down 20.5% from a year earlier, according to FactSet.

But that’s not as bad as analysts were forecasting a few months ago, and it’s not as bad as the 31.6% drop that S&P 500 companies reported for the spring quarter. As widespread lockdowns eased across the country, companies have been able to feel a bit of increasing momentum.

This week will feature earnings reports from many of the nation’s biggest banks, and how they fare “could give a clearer picture into just how far we’ve come in terms of economic recovery,” said Chris Larkin, managing director at E-Trade Financial.