Wall St at record levels after Abe win; GE dips after multiple downgrades

Wall Street indexes hovered at record levels on Monday as investors cheered the continuation of "Abenomics" following Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's emphatic win in the weekend polls.

The market has had a strong run, with the Dow breaking the 23,000 milestones last week on strong earnings. Stocks also got a boost on Friday after the Senate passed a budget resolution, lifting hopes that President Donald Trump's tax plans may move forward.

Corporate earnings have got off to a strong start, with nearly three-quarters of the 88 S&P companies beating profit expectations.

"Investors are being cheered on by the global markets after the Japanese election," said Peter Cardillo, Chief Market Economist at First Standard Financial in New York.

"The strength continues based on the prospect of fiscal reform and good earnings."

World stocks were lifted to an all-time high after Abe's victory raised hopes of continued market-friendly monetary policies and economic reforms.

The top Senate Republican and the White House budget director said on Sunday they hoped for action on the new tax package by the end of the year, while keeping their options open on how to pay for sweeping tax cuts.

Investors are also waiting for news on the next Federal Reserve chief.

Trump said he would make his choice to lead the Fed soon and was still considering at least three people: Fed Governor Jerome Powell, Stanford University economist John Taylor and Yellen.

At 9:38 a.m. ET (1338 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 18.75 points, or 0.08 percent, at 23,347.38, the S&P 500 was up 1.15 points, or 0.04 percent, at 2,576.36 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 4.60 points, or 0.07 percent, at 6,633.65.

Six of the 11 major S&P indexes were higher, led by gains in materials index.

Gains in technology sector led the broader market higher. Energy stocks also gained as oil prices rose.

Hasbro dipped 6.94 per cent after the toymaker's forecast for the holiday season fell below estimates as Toys'R'Us bankruptcy began to hurt its operations. Shares of Mattel also fell 4.35 percent.

General Electric slipped 3.38 per cent after a slew of price target cuts, citing higher probability of a dividend cut.

T-Mobile gained 1.19 percent after the No. 3 U.S. wireless carrier's profit topped estimates on subscription growth.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 1,323 to 1,213. On the Nasdaq, 1,171 issues fell and 1,154 advanced.