On the US stock market Monday, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average (DOW) added 377 points, or 1.1 per cent, while the broad S&P 500 climbed 46.9 points, or 1.2 per cent, to 4,137.4 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index rose 173.7 points, or 1.5 per cent, to 11,891.8.
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) led the Dow’s gains, advancing 3 per cent, with Nike (NYSE: NKE), Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) and Intel Corp (NASDAQ: INTC) also boosting the index.
MSFT stock price over time
Investors are trying to anticipate Tuesday’s release of the January consumer price index (CPI) figure, hoping it shows that inflation is slowing amid the Federal Reserve’s rate hikes.
In the bond market, US 10-year yields eased 3.6 basis points to 3.707 per cent, still inverted against the 2-year yield, which advanced 1.1 basis points to a new high for the year, at 4.524 per cent.
US bond prices
Oil prices, a key inflation component, fell after a report that the Biden administration plans to sell more crude oil from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
West Texas Intermediate crude slipped 37 cents, or 0.5 per cent, to US$79.35 a barrel, while the global benchmark Brent crude was down 38 cents, or 0.4 per cent, to US$86.01 a barrel.
Gold prices were down US$4.88, or 0.3 per cent, to US$1,857.13 an ounce. The Australian dollar is buying 69.67 US cents this morning, up just over half a cent from 69.12 US cents at the Monday close in Australia.
