Another rally for big tech stocks like Apple leads Nasdaq to clinch day two of gains

The tech sector made more strides higher on Monday, July 10, leading the Nasdaq to its second day of solid gains and lightening the mood on the rest of Wall Street.

The S&P 500 added 0.09% and the Nasdaq rose 0.38%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped slightly, by 0.02%.

Tech stocks moved higher on Monday after driving markets to major gains on Friday, July 7. Sector gains boosted the Nasdaq by just more than 1% to close out Friday's session. The sector has been in rebound mode after a rough June -- the sector had pulled back that month from lofty heights achieved during the first several months of the year.

The FAANG stocks (Facebook Inc. (FB) , Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) , Apple Inc. (AAPL) , Netflix Inc. (NFLX) and Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) , were each higher Monday. The stocks have taken a beating in recent weeks, beginning with their initial slide on June 9. The Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) increased 0.69%.

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen heads to Capitol Hill in the coming week and Wall Street will be paying close attention to her assessments of the U.S. economy and how it might be affected by monetary-policy tightening. Yellen is set to deliver her semiannual testimony on monetary policy to the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday, July 12.

In its semiannual monetary policy report delivered before Yellen's testimony, the Federal Reserve said it expects "gradual" increases in the federal funds rate and said it's likely to start trimming reinvestment of proceeds from in its fixed-income portfolio later this year. The report was released on Friday.

Crude oil prices rose on Monday on news Nigeria and Libya could participate in production cuts agreed upon by Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries after the two were invited to attend a meeting later in July. Nigeria and Libya had been exempted from the OPEC agreement. Major oil-producing countries are set to meet to discuss current production limits on July 24.

Tesla Inc. (TSLA) rose by less than 1% on Monday after CEO Elon Musk tweeted photos on Saturday of the first Model 3 ever produced. Musk said the first Model 3 had come off the production line and was now going through final checks.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF) slumped 21% after confirming that it had ended buyout talks. The company said in a statement that "the A&F Board of Directors determined that the best path to enhance value for stockholders is the rigorous execution of our business plan."

Abercrombie's failed deal talks and Amazon's Prime Day hurt the retail sector on Monday. Best Buy Co. Inc. ( BBY) , The Gap Inc. ( GPS) , Dick's Sporting Goods Inc. ( DKS) , Guess? Inc. ( GES) , Express Inc. ( EXPR) , American Eagle Outfitters ( AEO) , and Urban Outfitters Inc. ( URBN) were all lower. The S&P Retail SPDR ETF ( XRT) dropped 2.2%.

Source: Bloomberg Pro Terminal

Jr Trader Alexander Kumanov

Read more:

• US – Iran – Iraq tension remain the main driver of the stock market today
• How top market players on Wall St think 2020 will look like on financial markets
• Money Flow before the start of the new trading week
• Cincinnati Financial Corporation (CINF.US) -Opportunity for long positions
• Asia stocks gain as Fed signals no rate cuts in 2020