Wall Street reaches new heights thanks to growing confidence

On Monday, U.S. stock markets experienced another upward trend, further extending their recent highs. The S&P 500 rose by 0.5% in midday trading, building on its record from the previous Friday. At the same time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average recovered from an early loss and increased by 118 points, equivalent to a 0.3% gain. The Nasdaq Composite also recorded a gain of 0.6%. This positive trend followed calm trading activities in Europe, while the U.S. bond market was closed due to a holiday. Particularly noteworthy was the development in China, where Finance Minister Lan Fo'an delivered a long-awaited update. Although new measures to stimulate the economy were announced, a large-scale stimulus program that many investors had hoped for did not materialize. The markets reacted mixed: while stocks in Shanghai rose by 2.1%, the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong recorded a decrease of 0.7%. Oil prices dropped by almost 2%, attributed to concerns about demand from China's weakening economy. On Wall Street, SoFi Technologies saw a 7.6% increase following the announcement of a $2 billion platform agreement with Fortress Investment Group. Meanwhile, Longboard Pharmaceuticals soared by an impressive 51.2% after H. Lundbeck announced its acquisition of the biopharmaceutical company in a cash deal. As the week progresses, corporate reports are increasingly coming into focus, with expected releases from industry giants such as Bank of America, Johnson & Johnson, and UnitedHealth Group. These ongoing profit increases could help alleviate concerns about the high valuation of the stock market. The hope for declining interest rates and robust economic growth in the U.S. also contributes to investor confidence that the Federal Reserve could achieve a soft landing.