Nasdaq notches record high close; traders focus on rate cuts

STORY: U.S. stocks gained on Monday, with the Dow adding a quarter of a percent, the S&P 500 rising about two tenths of a percent and the Nasdaq climbing just shy of half a percent for a record high close.

Investors expect multiple interest rate cuts this year after a troubling nonfarm payrolls report on Friday added to concerns about a weakening U.S. jobs market.

The report initially boosted stocks on Friday before dragging them down on fears of a potential economic slowdown.

That dynamic could play out in the days to come, says Melissa Brown, managing director of investment decision research at SimCorp.

“There is this push-pull going on. I think after the jobs report last week, it became a virtual certainty that the Fed (Federal Reserve) would cut rates, which the market tends to like. But because that has been the rumor for so long now, it's probably not particularly new news. And I think investors are starting to think even more about, 'Okay, well, if the Fed has to cut rates, that means the economy is not doing so well,' and then they still have this dual battle with inflation. So maybe the cutting rates, which is already in stock prices, maybe it's not going to drive further improvement, at least for a while." Related Videos

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Monday's notable stock moves included Broadcom, which gained more than 3%, extending its rally since the chipmaker said last Thursday it expects sharp AI-related revenue growth. Its market capitalization has reached $1.6 trillion, making it Wall Street's seventh most valuable company.

Retail trading platform Robinhood Markets jumped nearly 16% and marketing platform AppLovin soared more than 11-and-a-half percent ahead of both companies joining the S&P 500, beginning September 22.

And shares of EchoStar rallied nearly 20% after the telecommunications services firm agreed to sell wireless spectrum licenses to SpaceX for its Starlink satellite network for about $17 billion.

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