Stock Market Today: Wall Street Closes Mixed After 7 Consecutive Weeks of Gains | Associated Press

Stocks ended mixed on Monday as Wall Street's seven-week winning streak cooled.

The S&P 500 rose 0.5% and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.6%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed essentially flat after most of the 0.2% gain faded in the late afternoon.

Retailers and big tech companies were among the big winners. Amazon.com rose 2.7% and Etsy climbed 4.7%, posting the biggest gain among S&P 500 stocks.

Chipmaker Nvidia rose 2.4%, while Meta rose 2.9% and Netflix closed 3% higher.

Energy companies also rallied as crude oil prices surged amid growing concerns about attacks by Iran-backed Houthis on ships in the Red Sea. Oil and natural gas giant BP has joined the growing list of companies that have halted shipments on the main trade route.

Valero Energy rose 2.6% and Marathon Petroleum rose 2.3%.

US Steel rose 26.1% after agreeing to be acquired by Japan's Nippon Steel. The Pittsburgh steelmaker played a key role in the country's industrialization. The all-cash deal is worth about $14.1 billion, or $14.9 billion with debt. That's almost double what rival Cleveland Cliffs offered just four months ago.

Investors had several more acquisition updates to consider. Photoshop maker Adobe rose 2.5% after announcing it would end its planned $20 billion acquisition of Figma. Door maker Masonite International fell 16% after it said it would acquire PGT Innovations in a deal worth about $13 billion.

Treasury yields mostly rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 3.95% from 3.92% late Friday.

Overall, the S&P 500 rose 21.37 points to 4,740.56. The Dow rose 0.86 points to 37,306.02 and the Nasdaq gained 90.89 points to 14,904.81.

Markets in Europe closed mostly lower, while markets in Asia closed lower.

The broader market rose last week, adding to solid gains in December after the Federal Reserve signaled that inflation may have cooled enough for the central bank to move to cut interest rates in 2024. The Dow closed last week with a record, while the S&P 500 ended the week with its longest weekly winning streak in six years while also approaching its all-time high.

The benchmark S&P 500 is now up more than 23% this year, while the Nasdaq has gained more than 42%.

“The winning streak and the fact that the Fed has reversed course as inflation continues to fall has created a bit of a momentum boost,” said Michael Antonelli, market strategist at Baird. “At the end of last week, 70% of the S&P 500 was above its 20-day moving average. That’s almost three-quarters of the index recovering in the short term.”

Lower interest rates usually take pressure off financial markets. Since 2022, the Fed's goal has been to slow the economy and push investment prices through high interest rates to such an extent that inflation comes under control. Economic growth has slowed but not slipped into recession, while inflation continues to ease.

Wall Street expects these conditions mean the Fed is done raising rates and could begin cutting rates in early 2024. Investors will get their last major inflation update of the year on Friday when the government releases its personal consumption spending report. It is the Fed's preferred measure of inflation and has been relaxed since mid-2022.

Analysts polled by FactSet expect inflation to fall to 2.8% in November from 3% in October. In June 2022 it was even 7.1%.

Investors also need to examine some key earnings reports this week that could give them a better sense of how companies and consumers are faring amid high interest rates and persistent inflation. Package delivery company FedEx will report its latest financial results on Tuesday and Cheerios maker General Mills will report results on Wednesday. Athletic shoe giant Nike will release its latest results on Thursday.

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