**Broad gains across major stock indices, with the S&P 500 index firmly above 5800 points;

**Federal Reserve officials maintain a cautious stance on the path of interest rate cuts;

**Caterpillar falls 2% as its company rating is downgraded by Morgan Stanley.

U.S. stocks rose across the board on Monday, with investors awaiting significant corporate earnings reports and economic data, while technology stocks performed well, with Nvidia hitting a historical high. By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 201.36 points, or 0.47%, to 43,065.22. The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.87% to 18,502.69, and the S&P 500 index increased by 0.77% to 5,859.86.

Market Overview

Two Federal Reserve officials have expressed a cautious approach to future interest rate policies in their latest remarks. Minneapolis Fed Chairman Kashkari stated that with inflation rates hovering around the central bank's 2% target, he expects moderate rate cuts in the future.

Federal Reserve Governor Waller believes that recent economic data, including a hotter-than-expected consumer inflation report and a strong jobs report, indicate that the economy may not slow down "as anticipated." "Although we do not want to overreact to these data, I believe that the overall data suggest that monetary policy should be more cautious in the pace of rate cuts than was required at the September meeting."

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This week, investors will focus on several key economic data points, particularly the September retail sales figures to be released on Thursday, to understand the financial condition of U.S. consumers, which will influence the Federal Reserve's future policy choices.

According to the FedWatch tool from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group, the bet on a 25 basis point rate cut at the Federal Reserve's November meeting is at 84.2%, and the market has abandoned the pricing for a 50 basis point cut.

The earnings season has begun, with Bank of America stating that so far, 30 S&P 500 companies have reported earnings, which are on average about 5% higher than profit expectations. This is better than the 3% at this time last quarter. However, Bernstein believes that the year-over-year growth rate of earnings per share for this quarter will be "far lower" than the previous quarter.This week, 41 S&P 500 companies will report their earnings, including major players such as Bank of America, Citigroup, Johnson & Johnson, and Netflix. Data compiled by the London Stock Exchange estimates that the S&P 500's earnings growth for the third quarter is projected to be 4.9% year-over-year. Michael James, Managing Director of Equity Trading at Wedbush Securities, stated: "The market has been quite strong due to solid bank earnings. JPMorgan Chase is clearly the standout, setting an optimistic tone for much of this week's earnings season."

Despite the market climbing to historical highs, there are still potential threats looming in the background, such as the presidential election, rising U.S. Treasury yields, uncertainty about the pace of the Federal Reserve's policy easing, and escalating geopolitical risks in the Middle East. Ross Mayfield, an investment strategist at Baird, said: "Market sentiment at historical highs may be a bit nervous, so it's not surprising to see some volatility returning. Over a time horizon of three to six months, we remain very bullish on the idea of lower interest rates, a soft economic landing, and earnings growth."

On the individual stock front, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index hit a two-month high, and Nvidia once again reached a historical peak after four months, surpassing Apple in market value to top the U.S. stock market.

Among other growth technology stocks, Alphabet, the parent company of Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Tesla saw gains ranging from 0.6% to 1.6%, while Amazon and Intel closed slightly lower.

Caterpillar fell by 2.0% after Morgan Stanley downgraded the equipment manufacturer from a "market perform" rating to "underweight."

Boeing fell by 1.3%, and the company's shares dropped by 2.4% after its third-quarter losses exceeded expectations. The company also announced that it would lay off 17,000 employees and postpone the first delivery of the 777X jet by a year.

The NASDAQ Golden Dragon China Index fell by more than 2%. Alibaba fell by 2.1%, Baidu fell by 4.5%, and JD.com rose by 0.7%.

Financial institution B.Riley Financial surged by 23.5% after the company announced that it had agreed to sell its subsidiary Great American Group to asset management firm Oaktree Capital for $386 million.

International oil prices weakened as OPEC+ lowered its global demand growth forecasts for this year and next. The near-month WTI crude oil contract fell by 2.29%, closing at $73.83 per barrel, while the near-month Brent crude oil contract fell by 2.00%, closing at $77.46 per barrel.

International gold prices experienced a slight pullback. The COMEX gold futures contract for delivery in October at the New York Commodity Exchange fell by 0.37%, closing at $2,647.80 per ounce.