NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks climbed early Monday, extending a rally from late last week amid greater optimism about an easing in US monetary policy.

US Treasury yields retreated early Monday, reflecting expectations that the Federal Reserve would still cut interest rates in 2024 after the central bank’s chair, Jerome Powell, essentially ruled out another rate hike.

About 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.4 percent at 38,820.73.

The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.6 percent to 5,158.15, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.6 percent to 16,247.84.

Wall Street Week Ahead: US small caps struggle as elevated interest rates take a toll

The Fed “indicated that not only was the possibility of a rate hike unlikely, but also that the door was still open to one or two cuts by year-end,” said CFRA Research’s Sam Stovall.

The market’s reaction to the Fed suggests the pullback in stocks may have “run its course,” Stovall said.

This week’s calendar includes a handful of major earnings reports, such as Disney. However, there are fewer than in recent weeks, when reports from Apple, Google parent Alphabet and Tesla dominated coverage.