Nasdaq Hits New Record as Wall Street Looks Past Soaring Bond Yields
NEW YORK — The Nasdaq Composite climbed to a new record high on Monday as investors piled into big technology stocks, looking past a surge in Treasury yields to their highest level in 24 years.
The tech-heavy index rose nearly 1 percent in afternoon trading, topping its previous closing record set Sept. 22, Investor’s Business Daily reported. The S&P 500 gained about 0.6 percent to sit less than 1 percent below its own record, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added about 0.2 percent, or nearly 100 points, led by a jump of more than 2 percent in Visa.
The rally came even as the 10-year Treasury yield climbed about 7 basis points to 5.35 percent, its highest since 2002, a move that normally weighs on stocks by raising borrowing costs across the economy, Investopedia reported.
Investors were encouraged by Friday’s surprisingly weak jobs report, which showed employers added just 29,000 jobs in September, far below expectations. Traders now see roughly an 80 percent chance the Federal Reserve holds interest rates steady at its Oct. 28 meeting, according to the CME FedWatch tool, down sharply from just a week ago.
Nvidia rose more than 1.5 percent to extend its own record run, and all seven of the market’s megacap technology stocks advanced. MercadoLibre surged nearly 9 percent as investors cheered the first-round lead of right-wing candidate Flávio Bolsonaro in Brazil’s presidential election, while SpaceX and Western Digital each gained about 6 percent.
In an unusual twist, chip stocks sat out the rally. The PHLX Semiconductor Index fell 0.7 percent even as the Nasdaq hit new highs, a divergence that has happened only 32 times in the past 20 years, Barron’s reported, citing Dow Jones Market Data.
The gains came on a quiet day for economic news. A survey of service-sector activity accelerated in September even as its prices measure climbed to 74, signaling fresh cost pressure. Investors now look ahead to quarterly results from Levi Strauss, PepsiCo and Delta Air Lines before earnings season begins in earnest next week, with oil near $100 a barrel and the euro at its weakest against the dollar since May 2025.