MARKET SNAPSHOT: Dow On Track For 9th Record In A Row

Deal news drives up shares of NxStage Medical

U.S. stocks trade higher on Monday, putting the Dow not only at record levels, but on track to eke out its ninth straight record close, as well as its 10th positive session in a row.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 27 points, or 0.1%, at 22,121, trading at an intraday record. The S&P 500 rose 2.4 points to 2,479, a rise of 0.1%. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 26 points, or 0.4%, to 6,378.

While equities have been in an essentially uninterrupted uptrend all year--the S&P has advanced nearly 11% so far in 2017--analysts said there was little to keep pushing shares solidly higher, even barring prominent headwinds that could nudge benchmarks into the red.

"We have a low-inflation environment, low interest rates, and corporate earnings have come in incredibly well. Those can all hold the market at these levels, but at the same time, you don't have all sectors firing at once, and the calls for a correction could become a self-fulfilling prophesy," said Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist at Boston Private Wealth.

"I'm cautious about what I'm doing. I don't need to chase the market, and nothing is exciting me enough to rush out and spend the cash I have on hand," he said. "Why pay full price for a suit if I strongly suspect that it will go on sale in the next month or two?"

The strong set of forecast-beating jobs-growth numbers (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-gains-209000-jobs-in-july-unemployment-retouches-16-year-low-of-43-2017-08-04) for July, which drove that Dow record last week, could inspire similar action for Monday, judging by futures, said market participants.

"I'd say the runoff from last Friday's jobs report is helping the Dow, because that data [were] solid," said Connor Campbell, financial analyst at SpreadEx, in emailed comments.

Read:Why one Fed official is the skunk at the picnic on the jobs report (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-one-fed-official-is-the-skunk-at-the-picnic-on-the-jobs-report-2017-08-04)

On Friday, the Dow closed at its eighth-straight record, bringing its year-to-date tally to 34 record finishes. If the blue-chip average ends in positive territory on Monday, that will mark its 10th straight record. It is also is on pace for its 10th consecutive close in positive territory, which would represent its longest such streak since late February. However, the streak comes as August trading gets under way and with September looming--historically two of the worst months for investors.

Check out:Beneath the glow of stock-market records, darkly bearish trends are lurking (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/beneath-the-glow-of-stock-market-records-darkly-bearish-trends-are-lurking-2017-08-04)

See: The stock market's historically worst 2 months are dead ahead. Time to worry? (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-stock-markets-historically-worst-2-months-are-dead-ahead-time-to-worry-2017-08-05)

Fed speakers in the spotlight: St. Louis Fed President James Bullard (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/feds-bullard-says-short-term-interest-rates-are-fine-where-they-are-now-2017-08-07)said that the level of short-term interest rates was fine, and that "the current level of the policy rate is likely to remain appropriate over the near term."

Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari will hold a question-and-answer session in Bloomington, Minn., at 1:25 p.m. Eastern.

Read:American workers are missing out on a big payday, and here's the main reason why (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/american-workers-are-missing-out-on-a-big-payday-and-heres-the-main-reason-why-2017-08-06)

It will be a light week for economic data releases, with consumer prices on Friday, representing the most significant a key update. On Monday, investors will get consumer-credit data for June at 3 p.m. Eastern Time.

Stocks to watch: Shares of NxStage Medical Inc.(NXTM) soared 28% after Germany's Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA(FRE.XE) said it would acquire the medical-device firm for around $2 billion (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fresenius-medical-care-to-buy-nxstage-for-2-bln-2017-08-07) to boost its kidney dialysis business.

Tesla Inc.(TSLA) said it would sell senior unsecured debt obligations set to mature in 2025. Shares dipped 0.1%.

Shares of Rockwell Collins Inc. (COL) are up more than 6% on reports that United Technologies Corp.(UTX) is considering a takeover of aircraft and defensive technology company.

Tyson Foods Inc.(TSN) rose 4.9% after it reported revenue that topped forecasts (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/tyson-says-sales-boosted-by-rising-exports-2017-08-07).

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (TEVA) shares were down 5.4% putting them on track to close (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/tevas-stock-keeps-plunging-on-heavy-volume-after-morgan-stanley-downgrade-2017-08-07) at a 14-year low, as Morgan Stanley turned bearish on the generic drugmaker in the aftermath of disappointing results.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in a meeting in Manila, Philippines on Monday that North Korea will have to stop launching missiles (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/north-korea-must-stop-launching-missiles-if-it-wants-talks-with-us-says-tillerson-2017-08-07) if it wants to hold talks with the U.S. At the weekend, China agreed to tough new U.N. sanctions (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/north-korea-defiant-as-china-agrees-to-tough-new-un-sanctions-2017-08-06) against North Korea.

Other markets: European stocks were mostly trading flat (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-catch-their-breath-after-downbeat-german-data-2017-08-07) after a downbeat reading on German industrial output. Asian stocks swung higher to start the week (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-markets-swing-higher-to-start-the-week-2017-08-06), inspired by last week's U.S. jobs data.

Oil prices fell 1.3% as investors waited for news from a two-day meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-prices-struggle-for-footing-ahead-of-opec-meeting-2017-08-07) in Abu Dhabi that starts Monday.

The dollar was flat, and dropped 0.1% against the euro .

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 07, 2017 13:01 ET (17:01 GMT)