NEW YORK/LONDON: The Nasdaq led gains among the main US stock indexes on Monday as Microsoft climbed on news that ousted OpenAI head Sam Altman will join the software giant, while investors awaited more clues on when the Federal Reserve might begin cutting interest rates.
Microsoft’s shares touched an all-time high and were last up 1.6% after CEO Satya Nadella said Altman is set to join the company to lead a new advanced AI research team.
The S&P 500 information technology sub-index housing the stock was the top sectoral gainer, up 0.9%. Most other megacap stocks, including Nvidia and Apple, also edged higher.
Wall Street’s main indexes have staged a stellar rebound in November, posting gains for the third week in a row on Friday as evidence of easing US inflation supported bets that the Fed was done raising interest rates. The benchmark S&P 500 is now less than 2% away from its highest level this year reached in July.
The Fed is expected to issue minutes of its November meeting on Tuesday, which will be parsed for clues on the direction of US interest rates. Black Friday sales will provide a gauge on the state of US consumer spending.
At 11:37 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 104.08 points, or 0.30%, at 35,051.36, the S&P 500 was up 19.87 points, or 0.44%, at 4,533.89, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 107.39 points, or 0.76%, at 14,232.87.
Among other movers, Bristol Myers Squibb fell 2.4% as Germany’s Bayer on Sunday stopped a late-stage trial testing a new anti-clotting drug, hurting investor confidence in all firms developing similar class of drugs. Boeing added 3.9% as Deutsche Bank upgraded the aerospace company to “buy” from “hold” and raised its price target to $270 from $204. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.84-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.59-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
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