US close: S&P 500, Nasdaq notch up fresh record highs

Wall Street finished on a mixed note come Monday, following a solid performance last week as traders debated on the outlook for equities and, somewhat strikingly, despite a top Federal Reserve official coming out in favour of modifying the central bank's policy framework and dovish comments from some of his peers.

At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrials Average was 0.05% lower at 25,283.00, while the S&P 500 was 0.17% higher to 2,747.71.

Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite had managed to add 0.29% to see the day out from 7,157.39.

In a nod to worries in some corners of the market that investors (especially so those from the retail segment) may have gotten ahead of themselves, JP Morgan's Mislav Matejka told clients: "HF beta is elevated, MSCI World RSI appears stretched and the Bull-Bear index has just printed the highest level since 2010.

"These suggest that there could be some 'travel and arrive', that stocks could see some consolidation ahead."

Also in reference to the outlook for global equities Matejka went on to add that: "but we believe fundamentally one should stay constructive and we would keep 'buying any dips'."

From a sector standpoint, the best performance was being seen in the following industry groups: Drug retailers (2.32%), Medical supplies (2.09%) and Marine Transportation (2.03%). Going the other way, Coal did worst, erasing 2.03%, followed by Distillers (-1.79%) and Airlines (-1.26%).

Acting as a backdrop, the headlines over the weekend were all about the political and media storm brewing over Capitol Hill in the wake of the release of author Paul Wolff's book on the US president: "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House".

In a session bereft of fresh economic data, the market spotlight was on the potential for market-moving remarks from three top Fed officials, which in the end appeared to pass unnoticed by markets.

Nonetheless, speaking towards the close of trading, Boston Fed chief Eric Rosengren argued in favour of targeting an inflation band of between 1.5% and 3.0%, versus the current symmetric target centred around 2.0%.

Meanwhile, in the course of a speech centred on the US economic outlook, the president of the Federal Reserve bank of Atlanta, Raphael Bostic said that the US central bank might not need to hike interest rates three times in 2018 because of weak inflation - a more dovish bias from the new rate-setter than heretofor.

His opposite number at the San Francisco Fed on the other hand, John Williams, stuck to his stance in favour of three rate hikes over the course of 2018, depending on the economic data.

Like Rosengren, Williams also touted the benefits of so-called 'price-level targeting', explaining that it "basically promises extra stimulus".

Longer-term US Treasury notes were little moved in reaction, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year issue unchanged at 2.48% by the end of trading in New York.

In corporate news, Nvidia was on the up after the chip maker announced a partnership with Uber to provide the company with self-driving hardware, amid reports of a similar deal with Volkswagen.

Elsewhere, biotech company Celgene was also in the black after announcing a deal to buy biotechnology group Impact Biomedicines for up to $7bn.

Lululemon was on the other hand were trading lower even after lifting its fourth-quarter profit and revenue forecasts.

Dow Jones - Risers

Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $166.03 2.51%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $101.57 1.48%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $39.94 1.04%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $132.82 0.95%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $64.55 0.89%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $163.41 0.57%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $91.72 0.53%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $128.51 0.49%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $87.08 0.45%
Visa Inc. (V) $119.34 0.40%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $224.70 -1.74%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $251.81 -1.45%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $110.00 -1.43%
General Electric Co. (GE) $18.27 -1.40%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $36.44 -1.14%
American Express Co. (AXP) $100.15 -0.92%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $56.66 -0.58%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $131.42 -0.54%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $174.35 -0.37%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $75.16 -0.34%

S&P 500 - Risers

Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $46.00 7.13%
Kohls Corp. (KSS) $56.90 4.67%
Western Union Co. (WU) $21.46 4.32%
Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (DO) $19.84 4.15%
Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG) $391.86 3.39%
Cardinal Health Inc. (CAH) $65.23 3.16%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $222.00 3.06%
GameStop Corp. (GME) $19.23 2.94%
FLIR Systems Inc. (FLIR) $49.67 2.94%
Helmerich & Payne Inc. (HP) $68.58 2.80%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Biogen Inc (BIIB) $329.65 -3.75%
L Brands Inc (LB) $48.64 -3.42%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $372.52 -3.27%
Tenet Healthcare Corp. (THC) $14.95 -3.17%
Mattel Inc. (MAT) $15.81 -2.77%
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $119.70 -2.52%
Delta Airlines Inc. (DAL) $54.65 -2.30%
Navient Corporation (NAVI) $13.69 -2.28%
Humana Inc. (HUM) $258.44 -2.23%
Mallinckrodt Plc Ordinary Shares (MNK) $22.39 -2.23%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $46.00 7.13%
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $336.41 6.26%
Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG) $391.86 3.39%
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $248.90 3.25%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $222.00 3.06%
Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $340.79 3.00%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $55.92 2.42%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $250.82 2.32%
Cadence Design Systems Inc. (CDNS) $44.92 2.11%
Liberty Interactive Corporation - Series A Liberty Ventures (LVNTA) $58.20 2.05%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Shire Plc Ads (SHPG) $149.10 -4.95%
Biogen Inc (BIIB) $329.65 -3.75%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $372.52 -3.27%
Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. (ULTA) $231.14 -2.87%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $35.25 -2.60%
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $119.70 -2.52%
Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $33.57 -2.36%
Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $109.10 -1.84%
Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BMRN) $88.64 -1.81%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $81.44 -1.51%