Nasdaq 100 notches longest winning run this year

Technology and retail shares drove gains in the S&P 500, while the Nasdaq 100 extended its rally into a ninth straight day -- the longest winning run since December. A bullish outlook from chip giant Qualcomm added to signs the industry crunch is easing. Short-maturity U.S. Treasury yields sank as global investors reassessed the outlook for monetary policy after the Bank of England defied expectations by keeping rates on hold.

The decision followed weeks of speculation that the BOE would become the first major central bank to raise borrowing costs since the start of the pandemic. It also came a day after Fed Chair Jerome Powell announced a start to a reduction in asset purchases, while saying officials can be patient on hikes. Interest-rate futures, which had priced in two quarter-point increases in 2022, shifted the second one into 2023.

"We thought that the extent of market pricing for Fed hikes really around the middle of next year was awfully full, and that should come down," Mark Cabana, head of U.S. rates strategy at Bank of America Global Research, told Bloomberg Television. "It has come down, especially with the Bank of England guidance that we have received."

Applications for U.S. state unemployment benefits fell last week to the lowest since March 2020, pointing to fewer dismissals amid strong demand for labor. The data precede Friday's employment report, which is forecast to show nonfarm payrolls rose by 450,000 in October.

"So far this week we've gotten pretty good news on the labor-market front," said Mike Loewengart, managing director of investment strategy at E*Trade Financial. "With the Fed starting to take a step back from their accommodative stance, in aggregate, this could stand as another proof point of solid gains when it comes our economic recovery."

Some other corporate highlights:

--AT&T and Verizon will delay their rollout of fast 5G service on some airwaves after U.S. aviation regulators raised concerns it might interfere with aircraft electronics.

--Intel ceded more than 2 percentage points of market share to Advanced Micro Devices Inc. in the third quarter, marking another setback for a chip pioneer that has lost some of its technology edge.

--Moderna jolted the market with sales and earnings that badly missed analysts' estimates as it lowered its forecast for 2021 Covid-19 vaccine sales.

Here are some events to watch this week:

--U.S. unemployment, nonfarm payrolls, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

--The S&P 500 rose 0.4% as of 4 p.m. New York time

--The Nasdaq 100 rose 1.2%

--The Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed

--The MSCI World index rose 0.4%

Currencies

--The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.4%

--The euro fell 0.5% to $1.1557

--The British pound fell 1.4% to $1.3502

--The Japanese yen rose 0.3% to 113.71 per dollar

Bonds

--The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined eight basis points to 1.52%

--Germany's 10-year yield declined six basis points to -0.22%

--Britain's 10-year yield declined 13 basis points to 0.94%

Commodities

--West Texas Intermediate crude fell 2.1% to $79.13 a barrel

--Gold futures rose 1.8% to $1,794.90 an ounce