(Bloomberg) — A rally in the world’s largest tech companies drove stocks toward fresh all-time highs, with traders bracing for a barrage of economic data and remarks from Federal Reserve speakers that will help shape the outlook for interest rates.
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Equities continued to plow ahead, with the S&P 500 poised for its 54th closing record this year and the Nasdaq 100 rising about 1%. Tesla Inc. rallied 3.5% on bullish analyst comments while Apple Inc. hit a fresh peak. Intel Corp. erased gains that were earlier triggered by news Chief Executive Officer Pat Gelsinger is leaving the job after the chipmaker’s turnaround sputtered.
Even after the strongest rally since the early days of the dot-com boom, the S&P 500 still has room to push higher, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Andrew Tyler. He says the most popular options trades are wagering the benchmark will hit 6,200 to 6,300 this month, implying a further advance of as much as 4% before the year is over, based on Friday’s close.
This week’s calendar is set to deliver a slew of key data, with Friday’s payrolls report expected to show US hiring jumped in November after hurricanes and a major strike undercut job growth a month earlier. On Wednesday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell participates in a moderated discussion, and investors will await any assessment of the job market and inflation as well as clues to whether the central bank will lower rates in December.
“This week is the last…
