US stocks climbed on Monday amid high hopes for President-elect Donald Trump’s choice of Scott Bessent for Treasury secretary. Investors also looked ahead to a Federal Reserve-favored inflation print.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) led the advance, up about 250 points, or roughly 0.6%. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose 0.6%, while those the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) moved up almost 0.7%.
Stocks are kicking off a holiday-shortened week with more of the upbeat mood that lifted the gauges to weekly wins. Markets will shut on Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday and close early on Friday. The Dow closed last week at a record high, gaining almost 2% on the week. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 were both up over 1.5% as they crept closer toward the initial levels seen after the election.
Trump tapped Bessent, viewed as the “investor favorite” pick for Treasury, late Friday evening after a surprisingly drawn-out process that saw candidates’ stock seem to rise and fall by the day. Bessent’s nomination has seemed to at least temporarily calm nerves over the president-elect’s inflationary agenda, with the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield (^TNX) dipping back to 4.36%.
On the inflationary front, the Fed will get its preferred look at the picture heading into Trump’s term with Wednesday’s release of the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index. Economists expect a tick up in “core” PCE, which is closely watched by the central bank.
Meanwhile, bitcoin (BTC-USD) was in search of a milestone $100,000-per-coin level amid a near-50% surge over the past month. It was hovering around the $98,000 mark early Monday.
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