The Dow Jones Industrial Average was virtually unchanged, as the index just barely logged another record close, the benchmark S&P 500 added around 0.5 per cent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added nearly 0.6 per cent

US stocks rose on Monday, building on a seven-week jump even as Federal Reserve officials tried to rein in high expectations for interest rate cuts.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was virtually unchanged, as the index just barely logged another record close. The benchmark S&P 500 added around 0.5 per cent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added nearly 0.6 per cent.

Stocks have soared as investors became increasingly convinced the Fed would make more rate cuts in 2024 than previously forecast. Those expectations got a boost last week, as policymakers recognized its efforts to cool inflation were having an impact.

But Fed officials have pushed back against speculations on deeper and faster rate cuts. Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said Sunday that it is too early to declare victory over inflation after his New York counterpart, John Williams, said Friday that talk of rate cuts is “premature.”

Investors will closely watch Friday’s reading of the PCE price index, the Fed’s preferred inflation measure, to help set expectations. Economists expect price pressures to have eased in November.

In individual companies, US Steel shares jumped 26 per cent after Japan’s Nippon Steel said it would buy the company in a deal worth $14.9 billion. Its offer of $55 a share represents a premium of around 40 per cent to the steelmaker’s last closing price in August.

In commodities, oil prices gained, reversing course after BP joined other container lines in halting all journeys through the Red Sea after attacks on shipping. That may disrupt flows, analysts have cautioned. West Texas Intermediate futures were trading just below $73 a barrel, while Brent crude futures traded around $78 a barrel.