US stocks end with gains; Nasdaq hits record high

By Mucahithan Avcioglu

ISTANBUL (AA) - US stocks ended the first trading day of the week on the positive side, with the Nasdaq Composite hitting a record.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.25%, or 114.09 points, to close at 45,514.95.

The Nasdaq added 0.45%, or 98.31 points, to close at an all-time high of 21,798.70.

The S&P 500 settled up 0.21%, or 13.65 points, at 6,495.15.

The rise in markets was led by a surge in some chip stocks. Broadcom climbed 3.21%, while Nvidia gained 0.7%.

Investors are focused on inflation data set to be released this week for more insight into the overall state of the economy after lower-than-expected non-farm payrolls data Friday.

Analysts said expectations that the Fed will cut interest rates at its meeting this month have strengthened following weak employment data.

Producer inflation data will be announced Wednesday and consumer inflation data Thursday.

On the data side, the latest Federal Reserve Bank of New York Survey of Consumer Expectations showed that consumers' short-term inflation expectations rose by 0.1 percentage point to 3.2% in August.

Also, the probability of finding a job if one’s current job was lost fell significantly in August, dropping by 5.8 percentage points to 44.9%, while unemployment rate expectations rose.

Meanwhile, US-based telecommunications firm EchoStar announced that it reached an agreement to sell spectrum licenses worth approximately $17 billion to SpaceX. EchoStar's shares rose 20% following the news.