LIVE MARKETS-US stocks edge up, and churn out more records

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US STOCKS EDGE UP, AND CHURN OUT MORE RECORDS

U.S. stocks edged higher on Monday, lifted by shares of technology companies and Walmart, and as investors mostly brushed aside concerns about the U.S. Justice Department's criminal investigation of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

The S&P 500 .SPX posted its third record close of 2026, with the technology sector .SPLRCT up 0.4%. Shares of Walmart WMT.O jumped 3%, giving a boost to the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq .IXIC, where the retail giant moved its stock listing last month from the NYSE. Walmart is set to join the Nasdaq-100 index .NDX on January 20, a shift that could draw in billions of dollars from passive index funds.

Stocks had opened lower after President Donald Trump's Justice Department threatened to indict Fed Chair Jerome Powell over his congressional testimony on a building renovation project.

Among other indexes scoring a record close were the Dow .DJI, the small-cap Russell 2000 .RUT, the PHLX semiconductor index .SOX, the PHLX Gold/Silver Index .XAU, S&P 500 Consumer Discretionary .SPLRCD, Industrials .SPLRCI, and Communication Services .SPLRCL.

It was the Dow's fourth record close so far this year. With the day's action the DJI ended just 0.8% shy of the 50,000 milestone, while the SPX ended just 0.3% shy of the 7,000 milestone. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite is down 1.2% from its October 29 record close.

Banks .SPXBK, .KRX were on the weak side after President Trump called for a one-year cap on credit card interest rates at 10% starting on January 20.

Investors are looking ahead to the fourth-quarter U.S. earnings season which unofficially begins Tuesday with results from JPMorgan Chase JPM.N and other big banks.

The Consumer Price Index $(CPI)$ for December is also due Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. ET.

Expectations are for month-over-month and year-over-year headline CPI to come in at 0.3% and 2.7%, which would be flat with the prior readings. December core CPI is forecast to be 0.3% and 2.7% on a month-over-month and year-over-year basis. The prior readings were 0.2% and 2.6%.

Here is Monday's closing snapshot.

(Terence Gabriel)

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