New York, Jun. 13, (dpa-AFX/GNA) - US stocks moved mostly higher during trading on Monday, adding to the modest gains posted last week.
With the upward move on the day, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reached their best closing levels in over a year.
The major averages finished the day just off their highs of the session.
The Nasdaq surged 202.78 points, or 1.5%, to 13,461.92, the S&P 500 jumped 40.07 points, or 0.9%, to 4,338.93 and the Dow climbed 189.55 points, or 0.6%, to 34,066.33.
The strength on Wall Street comes as traders look ahead to the US Federal Reserve’s highly anticipated monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.
The US central bank is widely expected to pause its recent interest rate increases but is also likely to reiterate its commitment to bringing inflation down to its 2% target.
CME Group’s FedWatch Tool is currently indicating a 78.1% chance the Fed will leave rates unchanged but a 56.7% chance of another quarter-point rate hike next month.
The Fed’s accompanying statement is likely to have a significant impact on the outlook for rates along with some closely watched inflation data due to be released in the coming days.
Overall trading activity remained relatively subdued, however, with a lack of major US economic data keeping some traders on the sidelines.
Semiconductor and networking stocks saw substantial strength on the day, contributing to the jump by the Nasdaq.
GNA