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NASDAQ, S&P 500 GET TECH BOOST AS TARIFF JITTERS EASE

U.S. stocks extended Friday's rally on Monday as fears were allayed regarding the whirlwind of tariffs threatened by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.

The Washington Post said Trump's aides are exploring tariffs that would only affect imports deemed critical to national or economics security.

While Trump himself denied the report, it nevertheless appeared to quell some uneasiness over the possibility that extensive tariffs could put upward pressure on inflation, even as the Fed has vowed that going forward it would take a cautious approach to rate cuts, which helped fuel the stock market's bull run last fall.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq .IXIC and the bellwether S&P 500 .SPX gained 1.2% and 0.6%, respectively, and 3.0% and 1.8% over the last two trading days.

The blue-chip Dow .DJI posted a modest loss on the day.

Each of the magnificent seven group of megacap AI-adjacent growth stocks ended green, with Meta Platforms META.O and Nvidia NVDA.O dominating. Chips in general were outperforming, with the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index .SOX gaining 2.8%.

Crypto stocks such as Coinbase COIN.O, MicroStrategy MSTR.O and MARA Holdings MARA.O gained between 4.6% and 11.6%, tracking a surge in Bitcoin BTC= prices.

On the economic front, a report from S&P Global showed U.S. business activity continues to expand although it appears to be losing some momentum, data from the Commerce Department showed weak demand for aircraft dragged factory orders lower.

The remainder of the week will be dominated by labor market data, culminating on Friday with the hotly anticipated December jobs report.

The stock market will be closed on Thursday in observance of a national day of mourning for President Jimmy Carter, who died on Jan. 29.

Here's your closing snapshot:

(Stephen Culp)

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FOR MONDAY'S EARLIER LIVE MARKETS POSTS:

INVESTORS PLACE MORE BETS ON AI WITH ALL EYES ON VEGAS - CLICK HERE

S&P 500 NEGATIVE OUTLOOKS FOR Q4 ABOVE Q3 LEVELS - CLICK HERE

MONDAY DATA: SERVICES SAVE THE DAY - CLICK HERE

METEORIC RISE: BITCOIN SET TO CRUISE PAST $200,000 BY END-2025 - BERNSTEIN - CLICK HERE

U.S. STOCKS POP ON PROSPECTS FOR TEMPERED TARIFFS - CLICK HERE

BROADER MARKET BEATEN UP, BUT BEACONS BEGIN TO BRIGHTEN - CLICK HERE

CHEAP UK STOCKS TO OUTPERFORM, DIVIDENDS AND DOMESTICS STAND OUT - JPM - CLICK HERE

DO YOU WANT CHIPS WITH THAT? - CLICK HERE

EUROPE BEFORE THE BELL: FUTURES UP ON FIRST 'PROPER' DAY BACK - CLICK HERE

MORNING BID: CANADIAN DOLLAR CALM AS TRUDEAU HEADS FOR THE EXITS - CLICK HERE