U.S. stocks rallied Monday ahead of the midterm elections and the release of a key inflation report.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 425.96 points, or 1.31%, to close at 32,829.18. The S&P 500 jumped 36.58 points, or 0.97%, to close at 3,807.13, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 89.26 points, or 0.85%, to close at 10,564.52.
Control of both houses of Congress will be determined Tuesday and many key races are considered toss-ups.
The Labor Department will release October’s consumer price index, a key gauge of inflation, on Thursday. Analysts expect an annual increase of 7.9% for the cost of goods and services — a historically high rate of inflation. It would still represent a decrease from the 8.2% increase recorded for September.
Several key companies are also expected to report quarterly earnings this week, including The Walt Disney Co. (DIS), Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY) and Adidas (ADDYY).
Stocks slid last week after Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell signaled that the central bank is likely to continue to raise interest rates to battle inflation. The Fed hiked interest rates 0.75% on Wednesday, the fourth consecutive increase at that rate.
Some of the tech stocks that rose included Meta Platforms (META), which closed at $96.72, up $5.93, or 6.53%. Alphabet’s (GOOG) price of shares rose $1.95, or 2.25%, to close at $88.65.
“Market prices these days are a lot more governed by central bank expectations than by political expectations,” Florian Ielpo, head of macroeconomics at Lombard Odier Investment Managers, told The Wall Street Journal.
