• S&P 500 hits record intraday high
• Oil pares early losses
Image: REUTERS
A jump in U.S. consumer spending pushed U.S. shares to an intraday record on Monday and global equities edged higher, offsetting a weak euro zone sentiment survey and political uncertainty over Spain's elections.
Major U.S. indexes advanced modestly, with the S&P 500 topping its intraday record of 2,940.91 set on Sept. 21 with a session high of 2,948.71. The benchmark index posted a record closing high last week but has been unable to pierce the intraday mark.
Economic data showed U.S. consumer spending surged 0.9% in March, the most in more than 9-1/2 years, although inflation remained subdued, supporting the Federal Reserve's recent decision to hold off on further U.S. interest rate hikes this year.
Sentiment for stocks on Wall Street was also buoyed by the brightening picture of corporate profits, putting some concerns about a possible earnings recession at bay. Refinitiv data showed a 0.2% decline in earnings reports to date for the quarter, a solid improvement from the 2% decline expected at the start of the month.
"It’s a positive sign. It’s being driven by the fact that overall earnings have come in somewhat better than most had expected. There was a lot of fear coming into earnings season," said Oliver Pursche, chief market strategist at Bruderman Asset Management in New York
"You couple that with the continued expectation that the Fed will stay very dovish, the trade deals that are going to materialize between the U.S. and China and some global data pointing out that yes, the world’s economies are slowing down, but not as badly as some feared - that’s what’s driving the market at this point."
The Fed is due to meet this week and will issue its latest policy announcement on Wednesday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 49.14 points, or 0.19%, to 26,592.47, the S&P 500 gained 8.8 points, or 0.30%, to 2,948.68 and the Nasdaq Composite added 24.52 points, or 0.3%, to 8,170.92.
European shares ended a choppy session slightly higher, as investors chose to focus on the positives of a weekend win for Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's ruling socialists in Spain's third election in four years.
Spain's IBEX 35 index managed to rally after falling nearly 1% to end the session 0.12% higher, and Spanish government bond yields dipped after Sanchez overcame a challenge from right-wing nationalists in elections on Sunday.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.08% and MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.26%.
U.S. Treasury yields rose in the wake of the consumer spending data, while the dollar slipped against a basket of major currencies.
Benchmark 10-year notes last fell 10/32 in price to yield 2.5396%, from 2.504% late on Friday.
The dollar index fell 0.12%, with the euro up 0.27% to $1.1178.
Oil prices pared early losses of more than $1 a barrel, after dropping nearly 3% on Friday when the market tumbled after U.S. President Donald Trump demanded that producer group OPEC raise output to soften the impact of U.S. sanctions against Iran.
U.S. crude rose 0.24% to $63.45 per barrel and Brent was last at $71.65, up 0.03% on the day.