Wall St. Rises Toward Records; Asian Bourses Mixed

U.S. stocks are rising toward records Monday as Wall Street’s momentum keeps driving it upward.

The S&P 500 is coming off its 10th winning week in the last 12, lifted in large part by expectations that inflation is slowing enough to convince the Federal Reserve to ease interest rates soon. I Photo: New York Stock Exchange Facebook

The S&P 500 was 0.5% higher in early trading and on track to top its all-time high set on Wednesday, Stan Choe reported for the Associated Press (AP). It’s coming off its 10th winning week in the last 12, lifted in large part by expectations that inflation is slowing enough to convince the Federal Reserve to ease interest rates soon.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 273 points, or 0.7%, and also on pace for a record, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite was 0.6% higher.

In stock markets abroad, Chinese indices were mixed after China reported that its economy expanded at a slower-than-expected pace in the latest quarter as its ruling Communist Party opened a once-a-decade policy-setting meeting.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.5%, while stocks in Shanghai added 0.1%. Indices were mostly lower in Europe, Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach also reported for AP.