U.S. Stocks Up Firmly In Positive Territory; Tech Stocks Outperform

(RTTNews) - U.S. stocks are up firmly in positive territory Monday afternoon with the technology sector turning in a fine performance after bond yields dropped amid bets the Federal Reserve will slow down the pace of its interest rate hikes in the coming months.

Last week's data showing a contraction in U.S. service sector activity has raised hopes the Fed will slow its pace of monetary tightening.

The major averages are all up with strong gains. The Dow is up 144.67 points or 0.43 percent at 33,775,28. The S&P 500 is gaining 41.52 or 1.06 percent at 3,936.60, while the Nasdaq is climbing 221.68 points or 2.1 percent at 10,790.97.

Technology stocks Alphabet (GOOGL), Apple Inc (AAPL) and Microsoft Corp (MSFT) are up 3 percent, 2.3 percent, and 2.6 percent, respectively.

Intel (INTC) is gaining about 3.5 percent, Cisco Systems (CSCO) is up 1.3 percent and IBM (IBM) is rising nearly 1 percent.

Tesla (TSLA) shares are soaring nearly 8 percent. The electric vehicle maker has indicated longer waiting times for some versions of the Model Y in China, presumably due to recent price cuts.

Salesforce.com is rallying nearly 6 percent. Visa, Goldman Sachs, Walt Disney, 3M, Home Depot, Nike, American Express and Honeywell International are up 1 to 2 percent.

Merck is drifting down 2.5 percent. Travelers Companies, J&J, Amgen, Verizon and Boeing are also notably lower.

Investors look ahead to release of a report on consumer price inflation on Thursday. The report, which is expected to show a notable slowdown in the annual rate of consumer price growth, could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates.