MARKET SNAPSHOT: Dow Posts 9th Straight Record; S&P 500 Logs Closing High

Semiconductor stocks among the biggest gainers of the day

U.S. stocks closed higher on Monday, with the S&P 500 ending at a record and the Dow extending its streak of such closing highs to nine.

The day's gains were modest but broad-based. Eight of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended higher on the day, with consumer staples and technology shares leading on the day. Tech was supported by a broad rally in semiconductor stocks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 25.61 points, or 0.1%, to a new closing record of 22,118.42. With the day's rise, the blue-chip average extended its streak of positive sessions to 10, its longest such run since February. It has risen 2.8% over that period. Over the course of 2017, it has had 35 record finishes.

The S&P 500 rose 4.08 points to 2,480.9, a rise of 0.2%.

The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 32.21 points, or 0.5%, to 6,383.77. Monday marked the biggest one-day percentage rise for the Nasdaq since July 19.

While equities have been in an essentially uninterrupted uptrend all year--the S&P has advanced nearly 11% so far in 2017--recent moves have been slight in both directions. The S&P hasn't had a daily move of at least 0.5% in 13 sessions, an abnormally long time. That is a sign that while investors aren't broadly seeing the kind of risk that could lead to a correction, they're also finding few reasons to keep pushing shares meaningfully higher from current levels.

"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?"

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 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."

Separately, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari said businesses that complain of troubles finding workers but don't raise wages are just "whining." (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/feds-kashkari-says-hell-remain-doubtful-there-are-worker-shortages-until-wages-rise-2017-08-07)

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, with consumer prices on Friday, representing the most significant update.

On Monday, a report on total consumer credit showed an annual pace of growth of 3.9% in June (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/consumer-borrrowing-slows-in-june-from-prior-months-torrid-pace-2017-08-07), according to the Federal Reserve. This was down from May's growth rate, which was the strongest in six months. Economists are watching the consumer closely as they expect spending to drive growth in the remainder of 2017.

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 0.5%.

Shares of Rockwell Collins Inc. (COL) gained 6.8%, the biggest percentage rise of any S&P 500 component, on reports that United Technologies Corp.(UTX) is considering a takeover of aircraft and defense technology company. Shares of United Tech fell 2.4%.

Tyson Foods Inc.(TSN) rose 5.7% after it reported revenue that topped forecasts (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/tyson-says-sales-boosted-by-rising-exports-2017-08-07). The stock was the biggest gainer among consumer staples (XLP) stocks by far.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (TEVA) slumped 9.8%, ending at their lowest level since 2003 (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/tevas-stock-keeps-plunging-on-heavy-volume-after-morgan-stanley-downgrade-2017-08-07) as Morgan Stanley turned bearish on the generic drugmaker in the aftermath of disappointing results.

Semiconductor makers were among the biggest boosts to tech, with the group up 1.7%, lifting the broader sector, which rose 0.8%. ON Semiconductor Corp. (ON) rose 8.2% while Lam Research Corp.(LRCX) added 3.9%. Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) advanced 3.1% on the day.

Other markets: European stocks ended lower (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.

U.S. oil prices settled 0.4% lower as investors awaited 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.

The ICE U.S. Dollar Index , which gauges the buck against a half-dozen currencies, was flat (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dollar-struggles-to-extend-post-jobs-report-glow-2017-08-07), but the buck dropped 0.2% against the euro .

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 07, 2017 16:38 ET (20:38 GMT)