• The Dow and S&P 500 hit record highs on Friday after weak economic data dulled prospects of more interest rate hikes this year.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was up 84.65 points, or 0.39 percent, to 21,637.74, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 11.44 points, or 0.47 percent, to 2,459.27, and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 38.03 points, or 0.61 percent, to 6,312.47.
• The CBOE Volatility index .VIX closed at its lowest since December 1993.
• For the week, the Dow was up 1.1 percent, the S&P 500 was up 1.4 percent, and the Nasdaq rose 2.6 percent.
• Asian stocks rose on Monday after the Dow and S&P 500 hit record highs on Friday on bets the Federal Reserve's accommodative monetary policy will continue following lackluster U.S. data, with that view sending the dollar reeling to a 10-month low.
• MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS advanced 0.2 percent early on Monday.
• Japan's Nikkei .N225 rose 0.1 percent.
• A holiday in Japan kept trade thin ahead of a deluge of economic news from China, which includes gross domestic product, retail sales and industrial output. ECONCN
• Forecasts are for economic growth of 6.8 percent in the second quarter, a healthy result which would not ruffle too many feathers in the region.
Reference: Reuters
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