U.S. Stocks Close Slightly Higher; Dow, S&P Post New Highs

(RTTNews) - U.S. stocks closed higher on Monday and the Dow and S&P 500 posted record highs, although the gains were just marginal, as investors largely made cautious moves ahead of some crucial economic data and Fed speeches.

Reports on durable goods orders, new home sales and consumer confidence are likely to attract attention along with a report on personal income and spending that includes the Fed's preferred inflation gauge.

The Dow ended up by 61.29 points or 0.15 percent at 42,124.65. The S&P 500 closed up 16.02 points or 0.28 percent at 5,718.57, while the Nasdaq settled with a gain of 25.95 points or 0.14 percent at 17,974.27.

The undertone was positive amid optimism about the outlook for the economy following the Federal Reserve's interest rate cut last week. The Fed is expected to continue lowering rates in the coming months amid signs of slowing inflation even as the economy remains relatively strong.

The markets also benefited from a notable advance by shares of Intel, with the semiconductor giant jumping by about 3 percent. The rally by Intel comes after a report from Bloomberg said Apollo Global Management (APO) has offered to make a multibillion-dollar investment in the company.

Tesla rallied nearly 5 percent. Micron Technology claimbed almost 3 perent. Walmart, Amazon, Visa Inc., Exxon Mobil Corporation, Costco, Chevron Corporation, T-Mobile, Adobe, Linde, IBM, Comcast Corporation and Uber Technologies gained 1 to 2 percent.

Alphabet, Oracle Corporation, Bank of America, Merck and Wells Fargo closed weak.

In overseas trading, Asian markets turned in a mixed performance on Wednesday, with markets in Japan closed for a holiday.

The major European markets closed higher, with stocks recovering after a slightly sluggish start. The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.4 percent. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.36 percent, Germany's DAX ended up by 0.68 percent, and France's CAC 40 edged up 0.1 percent.