US markets end higher on Monday

02 Nov 2021 Evaluate

The US markets ended higher on Monday with Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 closing at record highs. A batch of upbeat earnings news has contributed to a recent upward trend, as most major companies have reported better than expected quarterly results. Tesla, which became a $1 trillion company last week, continued its gains for the year with shares up nearly 8.5%. Stocks linked to an economic recovery, such as Ford and Occidental Petroleum, were also higher. Ford gained 5% and Occidental Petroleum popped 3.8%. However, upside remained capped as traders looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday. The Fed is likely to leave interest rates unchanged but could announce plans to begin scaling back its asset purchase program.

On the economic data front, a report released by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) showed a modest slowdown in the pace of growth in US manufacturing activity in the month of October. The ISM said its manufacturing index edged down to 60.8 in October from 61.1 in September, although a reading above 50 still indicates growth. Street had expected the index to dip to 60.5. Meanwhile, the Commerce Department released a report showing construction spending in the US unexpectedly decreased in the month of September. The report said construction spending fell by 0.5 percent to an annual rate of $1.574 trillion in September after inching up by 0.1 percent to a revised rate of $1.582 trillion in August. The drop in construction spending came as a surprise to participants, who had expected spending to increase by 0.4 percent.

Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 94.28 points or 0.26 percent to 35,913.84, Nasdaq rose 97.53 points or 0.63 percent to 15,595.92 and S&P 500 was up by 8.29  points or 0.18 percent to 4,613.67.

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