Stocks inch up as Wall Street hovers around record levels

FLE - The New York Stock Exchange operates during normal business hours in the Financial District, Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2021, in the Manhattan borough of New York. Stocks are opening higher again on Wall Street, Monday, Nov. 8, 2021, continuing an upward trend that has pushed the S&P 500 to five straight weekly gains. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, file)

NEW YORK (AP) — Stock indexes are hovering around their record levels in afternoon trading on Wall Street Monday.

The S&P 500 was 0.2% higher, as of 3 p.m. Eastern time, after earlier drifting between a small loss and gain. It’s on pace to set an all-time high for the eighth straight day, which would tie its longest winning streak in four years, though most of the gains during this stretch have been modest.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 116 points, or 0.3%, at 36,444, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.3% higher.

Stocks of construction-related companies made some of the strongest gains after Congress passed a $1 trillion infrastructure bill on Friday. Vulcan Materials, which sells crushed stone and concrete, rose 4.7%. Machinery-maker Caterpillar rose 4.1%.

More broadly, the stock market has been climbing over the last month as a wave of reports has shown corporate profits were stronger during the summer than analysts expected. That's helped calm investors' concerns about inflation and the Federal Reserve starting to pull back on its massive efforts to support markets and the economy.

Technology stocks were among the strongest and helped to offset losses for utilities and companies that sell directly to consumers. Advanced Micro Devices jumped 10.6% and was the biggest gainer in the S&P 500 after announcing that Facebook parent company Meta had chosen to use chips from AMD in its data centers. Chipmaker Nvidia rose 3.3%.

Steelmakers and other companies that stand to benefit from increased infrastructure spending also rallied following Congress' passage of the infrastructure bill. Nucor gained 3.6%.

Friday's deal also eased some concerns over gridlock in Washington as a potential fight over raising the debt ceiling looms, according to Jamie Cox, managing partner at Harris Financial Group.

“Markets had sort of come to the conclusion that infrastructure was going to take longer,” he said. “But it looks like maybe the logjam is broken; it really reduces the chances we’ll have a fireworks-laden Christmas.”

Tesla fell 3.2% after after CEO Elon Musk said he would sell 10% of his holdings in the company based on the results of a poll he conducted on Twitter over the weekend.

Social networking company Nextdoor Holdings surged 26% in its market debut via a merger with a special purpose acquisition company.

The latest round of corporate earnings is starting to wind down, but investors still have several report cards from some big companies to review. Health care services and products company Cardinal Health will report its financial results on Tuesday and entertainment giant Walt Disney will report earnings on Wednesday.

Wall Street will also get several updates on inflation this week. Rising inflation remains a key concern as companies contend with higher raw materials costs and supply chain problems, while consumers face higher prices.

The Labor Department will release its monthly update on inflation at the wholesale level on Tuesday. The report showing what consumers are paying will come a day later. .

The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 1.49% from 1.45% late Friday.