Stocks Rise, Led by Tech, Materials Sectors

Rallying technology shares lifted the Nasdaq Composite to its second straight session of gains Monday.

Meanwhile, government bond markets showed signs of stabilizing after a two-week selloff, and investors looked ahead to corporate earnings season.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 5.82 points, or less than 0.1%, to 21408.52. The S&P 500 rose 2.25 points, or less than 0.1%, to 2427.43, while the Nasdaq added 23.31 points, or 0.4%, to 6176.39.

Tech shares in the S&P 500 climbed 0.8%. Semiconductor companies led the gains, with Nvidia rising $6.94, or 4.7%, to $153.70 and Advanced Micro Devices up 45 cents, or 3.4%, to 13.81. Tech is down more than 3% from a peak on June 8, but it is still the best-performing sector in the S&P 500 so far this year with a gain of 18%.

Investors may be favoring growth-oriented tech stocks because they don't depend on fiscal stimulus from Washington, which now looks unlikely, said Matthew Peterson, chief wealth strategist at LPL Financial. "In the absence of exogenous stimulus...investors tend to prefer stocks that can produce their own luck," he said.

Retailers were among the worst performers Monday, accounting for nine of the 10 biggest percentage declines in the S&P 500.

Reports that Amazon.com was launching a new home-consultation service pressured shares of Best Buy, which offers similar services. The electronics retailer sank $3.64, or 6.3%, to $54.23 while Amazon rose $17.71, or 1.8%, to $996.47.

Abercrombie & Fitch shares tumbled $2.57, or 21%, to $9.59 after the clothing retailer said discussions to sell itself were off, confirming an earlier report in The Wall Street Journal.

The SPDR S&P Retail exchange-traded fund dropped 2.4%. Macy's shed $1.60, or 7.1%, to $21.08, and Gap declined $1.43, or 6.3%, to $21.21.

In bond markets, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.371%. That was down from 2.393% on Friday, which was the highest yield in nearly two months. Yields fall as prices rise.

Traders said the recent price declines made the bond market appealing to some investors. Signs of tighter monetary policy ahead had put pressure on government bond markets around the world.

Central banks are likely to remain in focus this week, with the Bank of Canada widely expected to raise rates for the first time in seven years and Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen set to offer semiannual testimony before congressional committees on Wednesday and Thursday.

The U.S. second-quarter earnings season also will begin in earnest, with analysts estimating a growth rate of 6.6% across the S&P 500, according to FactSet.

Investors are largely holding their fire until companies start releasing results, leading to quiet trading as markets opened this week, said Karyn Cavanaugh, senior market strategist at Voya Investment Management. "It's jockeying for position ahead of earnings season," she said.

The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.4%. Equity markets were broadly higher in Asia after a strong U.S. jobs report Friday boosted the dollar and U.S. stocks, particularly shares of financial companies.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.8% after closing at its lowest level in three weeks on Friday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.6%.

Write to Alexander Osipovich at alexander.osipovich@dowjones.com and Riva Gold at riva.gold@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 10, 2017 18:05 ET (22:05 GMT)