A rally in big tech drove stocks to their longest winning streak in two years, with investors shrugging off the latest attempts from Federal Reserve speakers to tone down Wall Street’s dovish bid.

After a series of twists and turns in the first hour of trading, the S&P 500 rose for a seventh straight day and got closer to the key 4,400 mark. The Nasdaq 100 climbed about 1 per cent, with Microsoft Corp. hitting an all-time high and cloud-software shares soaring. The dollar extended its rebound. Bonds climbed after Bank of England Chief Economist Huw Pill hinted rate cuts may be on the table in 2024. Oil sank over 4 per cent to settle near US$77 a barrel.

Global equities are poised for a double-digit rally in 2024 if the Fed pivots its monetary policy and allows the economy to avoid a recession, according to HSBC Holdings Plc strategists. The S&P 500 rose in price an average 13 per cent in the nine months after the last rate hike in the past three decades, according to Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA and author of “The Seven Rules of Wall Street.”

“The recent move in stocks is consistent with our view that investor pessimism had been overdone,” said Solita Marcelli, chief investment officer for the Americas at UBS Global Wealth Management. “While we continue to see near-term headwinds for equities, we believe conditions are in place for positive total returns over the next six to 12 months.”

The rally in equities came on the heels of a growing list of macroeconomic concerns — with the recovery leaving some investors wondering whether the markets will continue to climb a “wall of worry,” said Fawad Razaqzada at City Index and Forex.com. Lauren Goodwin at New York Life Investments, says the Fed may be done with rate hikes, but she’s concerned that the relief we are seeing in the markets is only a “stop en route to recession.”

Equities advanced even after some central bank officials emphasized that bringing inflation fully down to the 2 per cent goal is their main focus. Fed Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari said policymakers have yet to win the fight against inflation and they will consider more tightening if needed. His Chicago counterpart Austan Goolsbee said officials don’t want to “pre-commit” decisions on rates.

Fed Governor Michelle Bowman said she continues to think the central bank will need to raise interest rates higher to contain inflation — but added a surge in Treasury yields since September has led to tighter financial conditions. A jump in U.S. yields over recent weeks amounts to nothing less than an “earthquake” for the bond market, according Governor Christopher Waller.

“We’ll be especially attentive to policymakers’ thoughts around the recent shifts in financial conditions and what a nearly 50 basis-point drop in 10-year yields and a strong rebound in equity valuations could mean for the path of monetary policy,” said Ian Lyngen, head of U.S. rates strategy at BMO Capital Markets.

Investors flocked to zero-coupon bonds during October’s Treasury rout in a bet that yields would decline from multiyear highs.

About $10.3 billion of zero-coupon Treasuries were created in October, the second-highest monthly total on record, data released by the Treasury Department late Monday show. The $12.2 billion generated in October 2018 — also following a surge in yields — was the most on record.

Corporate Highlights:

• In a rare move, Apple Inc. hit pause on development of next year’s software updates for the iPhone, iPad, Mac and other devices so that it could root out glitches in the code.
• UBS Group AG reported stronger-than-expected client inflows in its wealth-management business, boosted by the first signs of stabilization at Credit Suisse as it carries out an expensive and complex integration of its former rival.
• D.R. Horton Inc. reported worse-than-expected quarterly orders as soaring mortgage rates hit demand.
• Datadog Inc. soared after the cloud-software company reported third-quarter results that beat expectations and raised its full-year forecast.
• Uber Technologies Inc. gave a mixed picture of its business, showing a second consecutive profitable quarter and an increase in demand for rides and delivery but also slowing revenue growth.
• KKR & Co. reported growth in its insurance unit that eased a decline in private equity asset sales in the third quarter, as alternative-asset managers rely on other businesses amid an industrywide deal slowdown.
• Carlyle Group Inc. reported a 43 per cent drop in third-quarter distributable earnings as the firm cashed out of fewer bets amid a dealmaking slump across Wall Street.
• Elliott Investment Management has built up a stake in BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. and has been in talks with the company for months about its future, a person familiar with the matter said.

Key events this week:

• Eurozone retail sales, Wednesday
• Germany CPI, Wednesday
• BOE Governor Andrew Bailey speaks, Wednesday
• U.S. wholesale inventories, Wednesday
• New York Fed President John Williams speaks, Wednesday
• Bank of Japan issues October summary of opinions, Thursday
• BOE chief economist Huw Pill speaks on the economy, Thursday
• U.S. initial jobless claims, Thursday
• Fed Chair Jerome Powell participates in panel on monetary policy challenges at the IMF’s annual research conference in Washington, Thursday
• Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic and his Richmond counterpart Tom Barkin speak, Thursday
• UK industrial production, GDP, Friday
• ECB President Christine Lagarde participates in fireside chat, Friday
• U.S. University of Michigan consumer sentiment, Friday
• Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan and her Atlanta counterpart Raphael Bostic speak, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• The S&P 500 rose 0.3 per cent as of 4 p.m. New York time
• The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.9 per cent
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2 per cent
• The MSCI World index fell 0.1 per cent

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.3 per cent
• The euro fell 0.2 per cent to $1.0696
• The British pound fell 0.4 per cent to $1.2294
• The Japanese yen fell 0.2 per cent to 150.44 per dollar

Cryptocurrencies

• Bitcoin rose 1.7 per cent to $35,614.85
• Ether rose 0.4 per cent to $1,900.76

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined seven basis points to 4.57 per cent
• Germany’s 10-year yield declined eight basis points to 2.66 per cent
• Britain’s 10-year yield declined 11 basis points to 4.27 per cent

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude fell 4.2 per cent to $77.44 a barrel
• Spot gold fell 0.5 per cent to $1,968.81 an ounce