NEW YORK: The Dow Jones industrial average and S&P 500 ended at record highs on Monday, helped by a rally in Apple as well as tepid economic data suggesting the Federal Reserve may wait to raise interest rates.
The S&P 500 .SPX racked up its third straight all-time high close, gaining 6.47 points, or 0.3 percent, to end at 2,129.2 points. The Dow .DJI rose 26.32 points, or 0.14 percent, to end at 18,298.88, beating its previous record close of 18,288.63 from March 2.
U.S. homebuilder sentiment fell in May although most builders view market conditions as favorable, the National Association of Home Builders said on Monday.
Slowing economic expansion in recent months, stemming partly from a stronger dollar and sluggish wage growth, has led many investors to push back expectations about when the Fed will begin raising interest rates for the first time since 2006.
“It’s becoming more of the collective thought that the Fed can wait, because you really don’t see any blistering growth,” said Kurt Brunner, a portfolio manager at Swarthmore Group in Philadelphia.
Apple’s (AAPL.O) shares rose 1.10 percent to $130.19 after Carl Icahn, one of the iPhone maker’s top 10 shareholders, said the stock was “still dramatically undervalued” and that it should be trading at $240.
The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 30.15 points, or 0.6 percent, to end at 5,078.44.
Apple’s rise was the biggest factor for the rise in the three major indexes.
Seven of the 10 major S&P 500 sectors were higher, with the financial index’s .SPSY 0.56 percent gain leading the way.
Sentiment got a boost from talk of mergers and acquisitions.Altera (ALTR.O) rose 5.65 percent to $46.93 after the New York Post reported the company had resumed talks with Intel (INTC.O) on a possible deal. Intel (INTC.O) rose 1.24 percent.
