Nasdaq hits fresh record on tech stocks push, Dow up 0.7pc

NEW YORK: Solid gains in tech stocks drove the Nasdaq to a fresh record Monday as markets shrugged off political turmoil in Europe and a breakdown in trade relations between major economic powers.

Gains in blue chips, including retailer Walmart and brewing giant AB-InBev pressed the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 178.48 points (0.72 percent) to 24,813.69.

The broad S&P 500 added 12.25 (0.45 percent) to 2,746.87, while the Nasdaq jumped 52.13 percent (0.69 percent) to 7,606.46. The previous Nasdaq record was 7,588.33 on March 12.

Tech stocks were boosted by Twitter's 3.5 percent gain, which put the social messaging platform up 55 percent since the beginning of 2018.

Apple announced a new, more secure operating system for its mobile devices and computers, pushing its shares up 0.8 percent.

The industry also got a push from Microsoft's announcement that it will buy software development platform GitHub in a deal worth $7.5 billion. Microsoft shares were up 0.9 percent.

AB-InBev, the brewer of Budweiser and other top global brands, jumped 3.1 percent. Drugmaker Merck added 2.4 percent helped by a promising report on its Keytruda drug for treating various cancers.

Davis Levy of Republic Wealth Advisors said that markets continued to ride on strength in the technology sector.

"The overall leadership has been what we saw for some time with tech stocks," he said.

Meanwhile, he added, "Markets ignored the potential finalization of trade restrictions and tariffs" by the United States, which has picked a simultaneous trade war with neighbors Mexico and Canada, with Europe and with China.