NEW YORK/BENGALURU- Wall Street’s main indexes ended higher on Monday, with the small-cap Russell 2000 index hitting an all-time high after Scott Bessent’s nomination as US Treasury secretary helped push bond yields lower.
Focus also turned to talks of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Lebanon, which pushed oil prices lower, dragging the Energy index 2 percent lower.
President-elect Donald Trump ended weeks of speculation when he named his choice late on Friday, with some investment strategists saying Bessent could take measures to restrain further government borrowing, even as he follows through on fiscal and trade campaign pledges.
The nomination of Bessent has eased some of the fiscal concerns about possible new tariffs, which had pushed bond yields higher ahead of the election.
“This time, focus is on tariff policy – especially now that the choice of Scott Bessent as Treasury secretary seems to have allayed major fiscal concerns,” said James Reilly, senior market economist at market desk Capital Economics. According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 gained 17.81 points, or 0.30 percent, to end at 5,987.15 points, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 51.50 points, or 0.27 percent, to 19,055.15. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 439.02 points, or 0.99 percent, to 44,735.53.
