A trader works on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), January 5, 2023.
Andrew Kelly | Reuters
Stocks rose for a second consecutive session on Monday, as traders tried to regain some ground lost in 2022.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 211 points, or 0.6%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite added 1.2% and 2.1%, respectively.
Among the biggest movers on Monday was Tesla, which rose more than 7%. The closely watched stock is down 65% last year.
It comes after a short week of gains for the three major indexes, with the Dow and S&P 500 posting their best weeks since November. a Part of those gains came on FridayWith the Dow Jones rising 700 points, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq advanced 2.3% and 2.6%, respectively.
Friday’s gains were driven by the latest batch of economic data. Nonfarm payrolls came in slightly above expectations, but wages rose at a slower pace than expected. This, and data showing a contraction in the services sector, reinforced hopes that the central bank’s interest rate hike would achieve the desired goal of calming the economy.
That data helped investors shake off pessimism earlier in the week after the release of minutes from the Fed’s December meeting, in which officials said interest rates needed to be raised in order to “sometimes.”
“Even the Fed is starting to signal to the markets that the job is about to be done,” said Jamie Cox, managing partner of Harris Financial Group. “This also contributes to the positives in the markets.”
Monday marks the fifth trading day of 2023, reminding investors of a Classic Wall Street rule This indicates that the market will end the year on a positive note if stocks perform well in the first five sessions. The S&P 500 ended the year positive 83% of the times it ended its first five trading sessions — and an average gain of 14%, according to the Stock Trader’s Almanac.
Investors will be watching consumer credit data later in the day. They will also be watching the upcoming December Consumer Price Index report on Thursday and the earnings of major banks due on Friday.
