Nasdaq leads Wall Street gains as interest rates easing fears

The US Nasdaq index led gains on Wall Street on Monday, boosted by shares of Amazon and Tesla, while signs of a cooling job market supported bets on a slower pace of interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.

Amazon.com Inc rose 3.4% after Jefferies said it expects cost pressures for the e-commerce giant to ease in the second half of the year.

Tesla Inc rose 7.5% after the electric vehicle maker indicated longer lead times for some versions of the Model Y in China, signaling that recent price cuts may be fueling demand.

Other rate-sensitive growth stocks such as Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc gained about 1% each, as Treasury yields declined.

The gains propelled technology stocks to the top of the S&P 500’s list of major sectoral indexes. The S&P 500 growth index was up 3.6%, beating a 0.7% gain in its pair that lists value stocks.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes ended last week higher after a moderation in wage increases and a decline in US services activity in December fueled hopes for a less aggressive stance by the Federal Reserve.

“The number of jobs created is slowly decreasing and wages are starting to calm down. Both are important for getting inflation under control without necessarily pushing the US economy into a recession,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley Financial.

Source: CNN Brasil

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