US open: Dow, S&P 500 hit new highs as post-election rally continues

US stocks mostly rose on Monday morning as the Dow and S&P 500 reached new heights as post-election optimism continued to lift investor sentiment, with crypto stocks among the best performers as bitcoin prices surged.

The Dow opened nearly 1% higher at 44,412.45 and the S&P 500 gained 0.2% to 6,004.79, with both indices rising for the fifth straight session. However, the Nasdaq fell 0.2% to 19,240.63.

While markets are open as normal, Monday is the Veterans Day national holiday, which is expected to result in lower volumes.

The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all settled at new all-time closing highs on Friday in the aftermath of last Tuesday's presidential election, in which Donald Trump comfortably beat Kamala Harris to be America's new pro-business president elect, while another rate cut from the Federal Reserve on Thursday also boosted investor sentiment.

No major economic data was due to release during Monday's session, though things will pick up later in the week with October's US inflation report out on Wednesday, followed by the US producer price index on Thursday and US retail sales on Friday.

"The US inflation report comes at a timely moment, with markets second guessing whether a December rate cut will come to fruition or not. While Trump’s policies have been largely deemed to be inflationary, the continued slump in energy prices does at least keep a lid on one key element that helps drive price pressures throughout the world," said Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at Scope Markets.

Market movers

Crypto stocks Coinbase and Microstrategy were putting in double-digit gains after bitcoin prices hit a new all-time high of $82,000.

Bitcoin has surged nearly 20% since election day, propelled by investor optimism that Trump's new administration would support a friendlier regulatory environment for digital currencies. The broader cryptocurrency market was mirroring Bitcoin’s momentum, with assets like Ethereum and Dogecoin seeing significant gains - Ethereum rose nearly 29% over the last week, while Dogecoin surged 83%.

Shares in Monday.com dropped 18% early on after the company beat profit estimates in the third quarter but underwhelmed with its outlook for the fourth quarter. Third-quarter earnings surged 33% to 85 cents a share, smashing the 63 cents consensus forecast, but sales guidance for the fourth quarter was only in line with current market estimates.

Another big moveer was small cap immunotherapy company CERo Therapeutics Holdings, which rocketed 170% after positive preclinical data for its cancer treatment.

A number of heavyweights will report earnings this week, including Home Depot, Alibaba, Cisco, and Walt Disney.