By Stephen Culp
NEW YORK (Reuters) -U.S. stocks were led higher by tech while crude prices dipped on Monday as investors, amid light Columbus Day trading, looked to promised Chinese stimulus and girded themselves for a string of high-profile corporate earnings.
Megacap tech-adjacent growth stocks lifted the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 sharply higher, setting the latter up for a fresh record closing high, while the blue-chip Dow was only barely positive, hovering near Friday’s all-time closing high.
“We have some good momentum behind stocks in general, major indices hitting all time highs,” Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist of CFRA Research in New York, said.
Oil prices dipped and the dollar was flat as dour news from China stoked fears of softening global demand.
On Saturday Beijing pledged to “significantly increase” debt in its attempt to breathe life into the world’s second-largest economy, but disappointed investors with its lack of detail.
This was followed on Monday by a report showing a sharp deceleration in Chinese export growth which missed expectations by a wide margin, underscoring the need for robust stimulus.
“China is having economic difficulties,” Stovall added. “Oil prices are another indication of lack of confidence that China will be able to pull itself up by its own boot straps, primarily because the stimulus details are so sketchy.”
The bond market was closed in observance of Columbus Day, and there were no earnings reports or economic data to sway investor sentiment.
That will change later in the week, with retail sales, industrial production, and housing starts/building permits, among the scheduled data releases.
High profile earnings on tap for the rest of the week include Bank of America <BAC.N>, Citigroup <C.N>, Goldman Sachs <GS.N>, Morgan Stanley <MS.N>, Netflix <NFLX.O>, along with a host of healthcare and industrial names.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 47.32 points, or 0.10%, to 42,911.18, the S&P 500 rose 40.75 points, or 0.70%, to 5,855.78 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 180.90 points, or 0.99%, to 18,524.37.
European shares inched higher as investors digested China’s stimulus plans and focused on earnings season and a European Central Bank (ECB) policy meeting due later this week.
MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe rose 3.69 points, or 0.43%, to 856.42.
The STOXX 600 index rose 0.45%, while Europe’s broad FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 10.11 points, or 0.49%.
Emerging market stocks fell 0.10 points, or 0.01%, to 1,159.46. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed 0.01% higher, at 613.70, while Japan’s Nikkei rose 224.91 points, or 0.57%, to 39,605.80.
The dollar drifted near recent highs against a basket of world currencies as the euro slipped in advance of the ECB meeting.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, rose 0.2% to 103.25, with the euro down 0.28% at $1.0906.
Against the Japanese yen, the dollar strengthened 0.54% to 149.94.
Crude prices dipped as economic uncertainties from China and the fifth straight decline in Chinese oil imports cast doubt on global demand.
U.S. crude fell 2.05% to $73.98 a barrel and Brent fell to $77.48 per barrel, down 1.97% on the day.
Gold backed down from a one-week high as investors’ risk appetite improved.
Spot gold fell 0.27% to $2,649.50 an ounce. U.S. gold futures fell 0.09% to $2,655.30 an ounce.
(Reporting by Stephen Culp; Additional reporting by Dhara Ranasinghe and Alun John in London; Editing by Andrew Heavens)