Stock indexes are hovering around their record levels in afternoon trading on Wall Street Monday. The S&P 500 was 0.2% higher, as of 3 p.m. Eastern time, after earlier drifting between a small loss and gain.
It’s on pace to set an all-time high for the eighth straight day, which would tie its longest winning streak in four years, though most of the gains during this stretch have been modest.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 116 points, or 0.3%, at 36,444, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.3% higher. Stocks of construction-related companies made some of the strongest gains after Congress passed a $1 trillion infrastructure bill on Friday. Vulcan Materials, which sells crushed stone and concrete, rose 4.7%. Machinery-maker Caterpillar rose 4.1%.
More broadly, the stock market has been climbing over the last month as a wave of reports has shown corporate profits were stronger during the summer than analysts expected. That’s helped calm investors’ concerns about inflation and the Federal Reserve starting to pull back on its massive efforts to support markets and the economy.
