Wall Street hits fresh record highs, led by tech

Wall Street marked fresh record highs on Monday for both Dow Jones and S&P 500, as the tech sector rebounded strongly after weighing on stocks in recent days after Goldman Sachs warned from their overvaluation. 

Healthcare and finance shares also buoyed the stocks today, after Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William Dudley spoke at the North Country Chamber of Commerce, in Plattsburgh, pointing to the brisk gains in wages and inflation, and saying the current economic conditions are better, as inflation and unemployment levels near the targets. 

Dudley cautioned there's still a long road for full recovery, adding that confidence levels are high now and the US economy is almost at full employment, as wage increases go along with productivity levels, while the improvement in hiring rates will ensure gradually increasing wages, and warning that slow interest rates hikes could push the economy into recession. 

Last week, the Federal Open Market Committee voted to increase interest rates by 25 basis points for the second time this year, while downgrading their projections for unemployment and inflation and keeping their growth forecasts intact, as the Fed announced its plan to normalize the balance sheet later this year and trim it down from its current $4.5 trillion levels. 

Dow Jones rose 0.68%, or 144.71 points to 21,528.99, while Standard and Poor's 500 rose 0.83%, or 20.31 points to 2,453.46, as NASDAQ Composite advanced 1.42%, or 87.25 points to 6,239.01. 

Gold futures due on August 16 tumbled 0.93% to $1,244.80 an ounce from the opening of $1,256.50, marking a month low, while the dollar index rose 0.37% to 97.52 from the opening of 97.16. 

Otherwise, US crude futures due on July 16 skidded 1.43% to $44.10 a barrel from the opening of $44.74, while Brent crude futures due on August 16 shed 1.06% to $46.87 a barrel from the opening of $47.37.