Nasdaq touches new record, Dow attempts to surpass 40,000

US stocks have seen a surge as the Nasdaq Composite (NXIC) reached new intraday highs and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) fell below 40,000 after closing above the landmark level for the first time on Friday. The S&P 500 (GSPC) rose 0.3%, while the Dow wavered around the flatline in the wake of the blue-chip benchmark’s record close on Friday.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed about 0.6% as Nvidia (NVDA) shares gained ahead of the chipmaker’s highly anticipated earnings later this week.

Stocks have gained as investors become more optimistic that the Federal Reserve will soon cut interest rates, despite words of caution from policymakers. All three major gauges closed at record highs on Friday as appetite for risk rose and Wall Street strategists painted a bullish picture for stocks.

A key test comes on Wednesday with the release of minutes from the Fed meeting in May. The market is bracing for heavily anticipated quarterly results from Nvidia on Wednesday, eyed as a key catalyst for the rally in stocks. Expectations for the AI chipmaker’s earnings and revenue are sky-high, with growth of 400% and 240%, respectively.

Meanwhile, rallies in commodity markets are fueling fears of a knock-on rise for US inflation. Copper prices on the LME topped $11,000 a ton for the first time, soaring to their highest-ever level as a looming supply shortage draws in investors. Gold prices also jumped to an intraday record at around $2,450 an ounce.

Microsoft has announced a new category of PCs called Copilot+ PCs, equipped with AI PC chips and running Microsoft’s latest version of Windows 11 and its Copilot AI software. The Copilot+ PCs will now run on OpenAI’s GPT-4o model, allowing the assistant to interact with your PC via text, video, and voice.