Investing.com – Wall Street closed higher on Monday, as U.S. and North Korea tensions eased, lifting demand for risker assets ahead of earnings from Home Depot and Wal-Mart due later this week.
Technology and financial shares lead broad move higher in U.S. stocks as investors piled back into equities, following last week’s slump, after U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson downplayed the risk of imminent war on the Korean peninsula.
"The U.S. has no interest in regime change or accelerated reunification of Korea. We do not seek an excuse to garrison U.S. troops north of the Demilitarized Zone," the officials said, addressing some of Pyongyang's fears that Washington ultimately intends to replace the reclusive country's leadership.
Meanwhile, better-than-expected Japanese economic data, pointing to an uptick in global growth, lifted investor sentiment on risker assets.
Japanese second-quarter growth expanded 1% quarter-on-quarter, on the back of a rise in consumption and capital expenditure, beating economists’ forecasts of a 0.6% increase.
The move higher in U.S. stocks come ahead of key U.S. data due this week, with retail sales data and the minutes from Federal Reserve’s July meeting slated for Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.
Investors will parse the minutes for any update concerning the Fed’s plan to reduce its $4.5tn balance sheet and further insight into the central bank’s thinking concerning future monetary policy.
The focus on corporate earnings will resume later this week with Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD), Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT), and 20 other companies listed on the S&P 500, including Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT), Coach Inc (NYSE:COH), and Gap Inc (NYSE:GPS) slated to release earnings.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed higher at 21,993. The S&P 500 closed about 1% higher while the Nasdaq Composite closed at 6340, up 1.3%.
‘Bulls and Bears’ on Wall Street
The top Dow gainers for the session: Visa Inc (NYSE:V) up 1.8%, Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) up 1.5% and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) up 1.5%
Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) down 0.6%, Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) down 0.5% and Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD) down 0.4%, were among the worst Dow performers of the session.