US open: Stocks mostly higher following winning week

(Sharecast News) - Wall Street trading got off to a mixed start on Monday as major indices came off a winning week. As of 1530 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.29% at 40,775.84, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.11% to 5,560.49 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 0.02% weaker at 17,628.34.

The Dow opened 116.08 points higher on Monday, extending gains recorded in the previous session.

This week's primary focus will be Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell's speech at the central bank's symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming on Friday, with market participants hoping to gain more insight into the Fed's position on future rate cuts. Minutes from the Fed's most recent policy meeting will also be out on Wednesday.

As far as Monday was concerned, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis president Neel Kashkari said on Monday that it was now time for the central bank to begin discussing potentially cutting US benchmark interest rates at its September meeting. Kashkari told the Wall Street Journal: "The balance of risks has shifted, so the debate about potentially cutting rates in September is an appropriate one to have."

He stated the Federal Reserve had made good progress on taming inflation but noted the labour market was showing "concerning signs". Kashkari also stated that he did not see any reason to lower interest rates in increments of larger than a quarter percentage point due to layoffs remaining low and unemployment claims seemingly not suggesting a notable deterioration.

Elsewhere, the Democratic National Convention will kick off on Monday, while earnings from the likes of Palo Alto Networks and Estee Lauder were both slated for release before the end of the day.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $285.24 2.42% Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $90.54 1.39% Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $325.32 1.21% Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $11.02 0.87% Nike Inc. (NKE) $83.90 0.80% Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $169.12 0.73% Intel Corp. (INTC) $21.00 0.62% Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $217.74 0.54% Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $580.70 0.52% International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $194.77 0.51%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Chevron Corp. (CVX) $146.03 -0.84% Apple Inc. (AAPL) $224.38 -0.74% Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $53.75 -0.30% 3M Co. (MMM) $126.89 -0.13% Visa Inc. (V) $267.10 -0.10% Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $69.12 -0.09% Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $0.00 0.00% Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $504.37 0.02% Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $419.16 0.16% Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $159.66 0.17%

S&P 500 - Risers

Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) $1.29 3.60% VF Corp. (VFC) $17.36 2.87% McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $285.24 2.42% Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. (ULTA) $386.17 2.37% American Airlines Group (AAL) $10.28 2.19% H&R Block Inc. (HRB) $65.81 2.11% Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (BFH) $55.39 2.06% Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE) $133.54 1.91% Mosaic Company (MOS) $28.24 1.86% Under Armour, Inc. (UA) $7.86 1.81%

S&P 500 - Fallers

HP Inc (HPQ) $34.65 -3.52% Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $105.89 -2.44% Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $162.19 -2.13% Arista Networks Inc. (ANET) $346.44 -2.11% KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $803.93 -1.91% NRG Energy Inc. (NRG) $81.23 -1.87% Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $855.46 -1.80% Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $204.24 -1.76% AutoZone Inc. (AZO) $3,156.49 -1.75% Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $237.39 -1.68%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. (ULTA) $387.44 2.71% Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $0.61 2.61% American Airlines Group (AAL) $10.27 2.19% NetEase Inc. Ads (NTES) $91.87 2.18% Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $18.85 1.78% Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE) $133.31 1.73% Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $2,012.09 1.73% Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BMRN) $91.00 1.64% Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) $69.04 1.58% Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $19.39 1.57%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $161.46 -2.57% Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $105.35 -2.44% Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $203.03 -2.34% Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $851.09 -2.30% KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $801.36 -2.22% Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $236.32 -1.68% QUALCOMM Inc. (QCOM) $169.56 -1.52% Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) $93.41 -1.48% Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) $80.05 -0.99% Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $63.42 -0.98%