Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 closed above 6,000 for the first time, up 0.1% from Friday's record close. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.1% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average logged a 0.7% gain while the Russell 2000 outperformed, jumping 1.4%. 

Small cap stocks, along with other areas of the market that were favored last week, benefitted from ongoing optimism around the economy and equity market under the incoming administration and Congress. Buying activity today was also related to a fear of missing out on further gains. 

Many stocks participated in upside moves. Advancers led decliners by a roughly 3-to-2 margin at the NYSE and at the Nasdaq. The Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (RSP) settled 0.5% higher and six S&P 500 sectors logged gains.

The consumer discretionary sector led the pack, closing 1.8% higher, thanks to a big move in Tesla (TSLA 350.00, +28.78, +9.0%). The financial sector (+1.4%) also had a solid showing, building on last week's election-related gain.

On the flip side, the information technology sector registered a 0.9% decline due to weakness in mega caps and chipmakers.  

There wasn't any US economic data today, but this week's calendar features the October CPI Report on Wednesday, the October PPI Report on Thursday, and the October Retail Sales Report on Friday. Tuesday's data is limited to the October NFIB Small Business Optimism survey at 6:00 ET.

• Nasdaq Composite: +28.6%
• S&P 500: +25.8%
• S&P Midcap 400: +19.6%
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: +17.5%
• Russell 2000: +20.1%