US stocks post strong gains during opening trade, Dow hits fresh record highs

A sharp rebound in the beaten down tech stocks helped major US equity indices to open in positive territory on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) hitting a fresh intraday record high.

At the time of writing, DJIA was up around 80-points to 21,462, while the broader S&P 500 Index gained nearly 12-points to 2,445. Meanwhile, tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index outperformed the broader indices and climbed over 60-points to move back above the 6,200 mark. 

Leading the rebound in technology stocks on Monday were Apple and Amazon, which announced a blockbuster merger with Whole Foods Market. It, however, remains to be seen if the recovery move is sustainable as investors remained concerned over stretched valuation, which would keep tech stocks in focus in the near-term especially after hawkish Fed policy outlook despite of uninspiring US economic data.

Meanwhile, upbeat comments by the New York Fed President William Dudley, noting that wage inflation should pick-up as the labor market tightens also lifted investors’ sentiment and remained supportive of the prevalent upbeat sentiment in the US markets.

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