US: Stocks gain on Monday, shaking off early weakness 

WALL Street stocks shrugged off early weakness Monday and pushed higher, extending a positive run for the market that began last month.

Equities initially fell after weak Chinese economic data and a gloomy reading from the New York Federal Reserve Bank on regional manufacturing activity, but turned around by midday.

“The risk of a global recession is pretty high at the moment,” said FHN Financial’s Chris Low, adding that a silver lining of the weakening outlook is the expectation that the Federal Reserve could pivot more quickly and slow its efforts to raise interest rates to quell red-hot prices.

“The Fed will stop sooner if inflation goes away and it’s more likely to go away sooner with the global economy slowing,” Low said.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished 0.5 per cent higher at 33,912.44.

The broad-based S&P 500 climbed 0.4 per cent to close at 4,297.14, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.6 per cent to 13,128.05.

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After a brutal first half of 2022, stocks enjoyed a buoyant July and the positive trend has continued into August.

“This market, over the past week, has shown an incredible amount of resilience and desire to continue to move higher,” said Nick Reece of Merk investments.

This week will offer a window into the state of the US consumer, with a government data on retail sales for July coming on Wednesday, and earnings reports from Walmart, Home Depot and other giant chains. AFP