By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Nasdaq was up more than 1% on Monday, and S&P 500 was also higher in afternoon trading, with shares of Nvidia jumping more than 6% as investors were optimistic ahead of its earnings due late on Wednesday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged lower.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury rose to a 15-year high as investors looked warily toward a meeting of central bankers who convene on Thursday at Jackson Hole in Wyoming. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is due to speak on Friday.
The S&P 500 technology index was up 1.9%, while shares of Nvidia rose 6.4% as HSBC raised its price target on the stock to $780, the second highest on Wall Street. Nvidia outperformed its megacap peers last week with gains.
Nvidia, one of the biggest winners in this year’s artificial intelligence tech stock rally, is expected to forecast quarterly revenue above analysts’ estimates when it reports. Nvidia’s stock is up more than 200% for the year so far, while the Nasdaq is up about 29%.
“Nvidia is considered the brand for AI,” said Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist at LPL Financial in Charlotte, North Carolina. “Its targets have been lifted dramatically, so the question is, can they deliver, and if they can, will it help to lift the market.”
At the same time, she said, investors are anxious to hear Powell’s comments at Jackson Hole. Concerns the Fed will keep interest rates higher for longer have pushed up yields, and fanned worries about the impact of higher rates on businesses and consumers.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 84.8 points, or 0.25%, to 34,415.86, the S&P 500 gained 19.67 points, or 0.45%, to 4,389.38 and the Nasdaq Composite added 173.63 points, or 1.31%, to 13,464.41.
Among stocks weighing on the Dow, Johnson & Johnson lost 2.5% after the healthcare conglomerate said it was expecting to retain a stake of about 9.5% in its newly separated consumer health unit, Kenvue.
Also lower, Goldman Sachs was down 1.3% after the bank said it was weighing the sale of a part of its wealth business.
Palo Alto Networks surged 15.7% as the cybersecurity firm forecast late Friday annual billings above expectations.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 1.81-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.08-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 2 new 52-week highs and 18 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 31 new highs and 182 new lows.
(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; additional reporting by Amruta Khandekar and Shristi Achar; Editing by Arun Koyyur, Vinay Dwivedi and David Gregorio)
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