The Nasdaq advanced 157.50 points (0.7%) to 22,788.98, the S&P 500 climbed 29.39 points (0.4%) to 6,693.75 and the narrower Dow inched up 66.27 points (0.1%) to 46,381.54.
Wall Street opened weaker as traders took profits from recent market gains, but selling pressure eased quickly. Optimism returned on expectations of further Federal Reserve rate cuts. The Fed, after last week’s quarter-point cut, is anticipated to lower rates again in October and December.
Commerce Department has scheduled to to release the Fed's preferred readings on consumer price inflation, which could impact the outlook for rates. A number of Fed officials, including Fed Chair Jerome Powell, are also scheduled to deliver remarks over the next several days.
Gold stocks were substantially strong as the price of the precious metal surged to a new record high, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index jumping by 3.0% to its best closing level in over thirteen years. Computer hardware and semiconductor stocks too showed strong upwards, contributing to the advanced by the tech-heavy Nasdaq. housing stocks were significantly weak, dragging the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index down by 1.5% to a one-month closing low.
Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index shot up by 1.0% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slid by 0.8%. European stocks moved mostly lower. The German DAX Index fell by 0.5% and the French CAC 40 Index declined by 0.3%, although the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index bucked the downtrend and inched up by 0.1%.
In the bond market, treasuries showed a lack of direction after trending lower over the past few sessions. The yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, eventually ended the day up by less than a basis point at 4.14%.