Norwegian Cruise Line helped lead the market and rose 7.6% after providing financial forecasts for the year that exceeded analysts' expectations. She said demand for cruises is growing and some of her competitors have gained in their wake. Carnival rose 7.3% and Royal Caribbean Group gained 4.1%.
The three big U.S. stock indexes set records last week, largely due to renewed hopes that the Federal Reserve could cut interest rates this year as inflation is expected to cool. More reports showing that large U.S. companies are making bigger-than-expected profits also boosted stock prices.
Next week there will be few top-level economic reports, like last week's headline that showed Inflation May Finally Be Returning in the right direction after a discouraging start to the year. But there are some reports on the calendar that could influence the market on corporate earnings.
Above all of them is Nvidia, whose rocket ride Amid the frenzy around artificial intelligence technology has been a major reason for the S&P 500's gains over the past year. It will report its latest quarterly results on Wednesday and expectations are high. Analysts forecast its revenue will more than triple to $24.59 billion from a year ago.
Its shares rose 2.5% to take its year-to-date gain to 91.4%.
Several retailers are also in the program, including Lowe's on Tuesday, Target on Wednesday and Ross Stores on Thursday. They could offer more details on how American household spending is holding up. The pressure on them has been increasing amid still high inflation, although it is not as bad as before, and cracks seem to appear. more visible among lower-income customers.
Target sank 2.1% after it said Monday that reduce prices on thousands of everyday essentialssuch as milk and diapers, in recognition of how customers are seeking relief from higher prices.
In the oil market, crude oil prices fell modestly. They erased previous gains from overnight trading after the death of the president of iran in a helicopter accident.
In the bond market, yields rose a bit. The 10-year Treasury yield rose to 4.44% from 4.42% late Friday. The two-year yield, which more closely tracks expectations for Fed action, rose to 4.84% from 4.83%.
The Federal Reserve will publish the minutes of its last meeting on Wednesday, in which it once again kept its main interest rate at the highest level in more than two decades. The hope is that the Federal Reserve can achieve the delicate balancing act of weakening the economy through high interest rates enough to control inflation, but not so much as to cause a painful recession.
Traders estimate there is an 88% chance the Federal Reserve will cut its main interest rate at least once this year, according to data from CME Group.
"April's better reading is encouraging," Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Philip Jefferson said of the latest inflation data in a speech Monday to the Mortgage Bankers Association. But he also said inflation has been declining "not as fast as I would have liked."
In foreign stock markets, indices rose modestly in much of Asia and Europe.
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AP writers Matt Ott and Zimo Zhong contributed.
