Wall Street rises as investors chase bargains outside tech

Wall Street’s main indexes climbed on Monday as investors bet on sectors beyond technology in a week filled with earnings reports and a Federal Reserve meeting.

All eyes will be on Microsoft (MSFT.O), Google-owner Alphabet (GOOGL.O) and Meta Platforms (META.O) this week, whose earnings will show whether their stocks justify sky-high valuations.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) has rallied 34% so far this year, outperforming its peers as rate-sensitive megacap growth companies rose on optimism about an end to the Fed’s tightening cycle and artificial intelligence.

The Nasdaq (.NDX) lagged other major indexes as investors looked to non-tech stocks for bargains.

“What you’re seeing now is people broadening the breadth of the market,” said Randy Frederick, managing director of trading and derivatives at the Schwab Center for Financial Research. “People are starting to maybe take some profits and invest in other parts of the markets that they might see a little bit better bargain.”

Helping the Dow (.DJI) notch its longest winning streak in over six years, Chevron (CVX.N) gained 2.73% as the oil giant posted upbeat preliminary quarterly earnings over the weekend.

As of Friday, second-quarter earnings are expected to decline by 7.9%, according to Refinitiv data.

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