US close: Financials provide a lift as factory orders rise
Financial stocks helped Wall Street indices close with moderate gains on Monday following day which showed that factory orders growth reached an eight-month high in March.
Citigroup Inc.
$71.00
11:04 03/01/25
Wells Fargo & Co.
$71.31
10:59 03/01/25
The S&P 500 gained 0.3% to 2,114.49, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3% to 18,070.40, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.2% to 5,016.93.
Analysts noted that volatility was low on Monday with UK markets closed for a bank holiday, while trading volumes were below the 30-day average.
Data released during the session showed that US factory orders climbed 2.1% in March, slightly ahead of the 2% increase expected by analysts. This followed a revised 0.1% fall in orders in February.
Investors were also digesting comments from Chicago Federal Reserve president Charles Evans who said the central bank should wait until next year to hike interest rates with inflation too low and unemployment still high.
"I likely will not feel confident enough to begin to raise rates until early next year," he said.
Banking blue chips were among the best performers of the day, including Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase & Co and Wells Fargo.