S&P 500, Nasdaq at New Highs Buoyed by Apple, Microsoft | Wall Street Today

The   $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ rose to a new intra-day record of 5488.50, before paring gains to close at 5473.27, also an all-time high. The   $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ rose to as high as 17935.99, before trimming the advance to 17,857. The indexes turned higher, wiping earlier declines, as investors gauge which equities can stay on an upward trajectory after climbing earlier this year.

$Apple (AAPL.US)$ and   $Microsoft (MSFT.US)$ led the advance in megacap tech.   $Alphabet-A (GOOGL.US)$   $Amazon (AMZN.US)$ and   $Meta Platforms (META.US)$ closed higher, swinging from losses. $NVIDIA (NVDA.US)$pulled back slightly after touching a new all-time high.

Earlier Monday, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York released data showing companies across the state are becoming more optimistic about their outlook, even as manufacturing stayed in contraction in June.

The $U.S. 10-Year Treasury Notes Yield (US10Y.BD)$ rose to 4.281% from the previous close of 4.229% after Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari said over the weekend that it's reasonable to expect that policymakers won't cut interest rates until December. The $U.S. 2-Year Treasury Notes Yield (US2Y.BD)$ was higher at 4.766.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed at a six-week high on expectations that demand could rise during the busy summer season in the U.S. $Crude Oil Futures(FEB5) (CLmain.US)$ gained 2.4% to $79.94 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

$Autodesk (ADSK.US)$ climbed after Starboard Value, which has taken a $500 million stake in the company, said it's filing a lawsuit alleging its board directors failed "to disclose material malfeasance regarding the company's accounting and disclosure practices prior to the deadline." The activist investor is seeking to nominate new directors.

$Best Buy (BBY.US)$ gained after UBS analyst Micheal Lasser raised his rating on the stock to buy after keeping it at neutral for at least three years, and boosted his price target to $106 from $85. He said the stock appears fully charged" for a rally, MarketWatch reported.

$Micron Technology (MU.US)$ shares climbed to a record after Bank of America Global Research analyst Vivek Arya reportedly named it the "top U.S. memory company" and raised the price target on the stock to $170m, from $144. The rally also attracted financial giants to the stock's call options.

$AMC Networks (AMCX.US)$ shares tanked after the streaming services company said it would sell $125 million in convertible senior notes through a private offering to institutional buyers.

$Virgin Galactic (SPCE.US)$ sank after the space-tourism company undertook a 1-for-20 reverse stock split. As a result of the reverse stock split, every 20 shares of the company’s common stock will be automatically reclassified into one share.