Tech-Led Rally Lifts Wall Street as Investors Await Key U.S. Economic Data

Major U.S. indexes closed higher on Monday, boosted by tech and gold stocks, while caution prevailed ahead of crucial jobs, inflation and retail sales reports that could shape interest rate expectations.

The Dow crept up 20.20 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 50,135.87, the Nasdaq jumped 207.46 points (0.9%) to 23,238.67 and the S&P 500 climbed 32.52 points (0.5%) to 6,964.82.

Wall Streets strength was partly driven by a continued rebound in tech stocks, extending the rally seen last Friday. Software giant Oracle (ORCL) led gains in the sector, surging 9.6% after D.A. Davidson upgraded its rating to Buy from Neutral. However, investors appeared cautious ahead of key U.S. economic reports due this week, including the delayed Labor Departments monthly jobs report following last weeks brief government shutdown.

The report is expected to show a 70,000 increase in January payrolls after a 50,000 gain in December, with the unemployment rate holding at 4.4%. Additional data on retail sales and consumer inflation will also attract attention, as their outcomes could shape interest rate expectations. As Senior Market Analyst Daniela Hathorn noted, with Jerome Powell nearing the end of his term and Kevin Warsh favored to take over as Fed Chair, markets remain highly sensitive to how upcoming data influences policy outlooks.

Gold stocks turned in some of the market's best performances amid a sharp increase by the price of the precious metal, driving the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up by 6.1%. Networking and software stocks were significantly strong with the NYSE Arca Networking Index and the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index surging by 4% and 3.3%, respectively. Brokerage and semiconductor stocks also saw considerable strength on the day, while healthcare and airline stocks moved to the downside.

Asia-Pacific stocks moved sharply higher. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index surged by 3.9%, while South Korea's Kospi spiked by 4.1%. The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index jumped by 1.2%, the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.6% and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.2%.

In the bond market, treasuries showed a lack of direction over the course of the session before closing roughly flat. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note which moves opposite of its price, edged down by less than a basis point to 4.19%.

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