NEW YORK — The stock market stayed at record levels Monday as investors remained confident that stimulus measures from the world’s central banks would help revive global economic growth.
Stocks have surged since bottoming out in a slump that stretched from mid-September to mid-October. The rally has been driven by optimism that central banks in Europe, China and Japan will take action to help invigorate economic growth outside the U.S., after the Federal Reserve ended its bond-buying stimulus program last month.
“You clearly have momentum favoring stocks right now,” said Russ Koesterich, chief investment strategist at Blackrock.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index and the Dow Jones industrial average both closed at record levels.
The S&P rose 5.91 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,069.41. The index has climbed for seven of the past eight days and has gained almost 12 percent this year. The Dow rose 7.84 points, less than 0.1 percent, to 17,817.90. The Nasdaq composite gained 41.92 points, or 0.9 percent, to 4,754.89.
On Monday, gains were led by the so-called consumer discretionary sector, which includes retailers such as Coach, Urban Outfitters and Gap. These stocks should benefit most if the consumers go on a spending spree this holiday season.
Coach rose 95 cents, or 2.6 percent, to $37.41 as analysts at Stifel reiterated their belief that the maker of luxury clothing and accessories is “doing the right things to reinvigorate the brand.”
Telecommunications stocks were among the day’s biggest losers. Verizon and AT&T slumped after analysts at Citigroup published a gloomy review of the sector and predicted a tough year ahead for the two phone giants. AT&T dropped 58 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $34.70.
Stocks were still riding momentum from Friday, when China’s central bank lowered a key interest rate and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said he was willing to increase the bank’s efforts to stimulate the region’s struggling economy.
Oil fell ahead of a crucial meeting in Vienna on Thursday of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Traders will be looking for a possible agreement to cut production to shore up prices. The price of crude has tumbled 26 percent since June as producers kept output stable while demand in Europe and other markets weakened.
Benchmark U.S. crude fell 73 cents, or 1 percent, to $75.78 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils used by many U.S. refineries, fell 68 cents to close at $79.68 on the ICE Futures exchange in London.
