(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose and Treasuries fell after data showed U.S. business activity is resilient even as growth slows, further fueling confidence that the world’s largest economy can pull off a soft landing.

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The S&P 500 rose 0.4 percent, trading in a narrow range after the release of manufacturing data and comments from Fed officials on Monday. Among individual stocks, shares of Intel Corp. gained 3.3 percent after Apollo Global Management Inc. reportedly offered to make a multi-billion-dollar investment in the chipmaker. Constellation Energy Corp. led energy companies higher after its deal with Microsoft Corp. was well received by analysts.

U.S. business activity expanded at a slightly slower pace in early September, data released Monday showed. Expectations worsened and a price index rose to a six-month high. Investors are looking for fresh signs of further easing after the Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate by half a percentage point last week.

“This is a rather inconclusive report and therefore should not dramatically change the Fed’s expectations,” says Adam Crisafulli of Vital Knowledge. “The preliminary PMIs suggest that the US economy is on relatively solid ground, especially compared to Europe.”

Traders have been betting that interest rates could be cut by almost three-quarters of a percentage point further by the end of the year, a slightly more aggressive stance than policymakers have announced.

Neel Kashkari, president of the Minneapolis Fed, signaled in an essay that he favors cutting the benchmark interest rate by another half a percentage point by the end of the year. In this essay, he referred to the weakening labor market situation and explained his support for the central bank’s disproportionate rate cut.

Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said a big rate cut by the central bank would help bring rates closer to neutral levels, but policymakers should not commit to a series of outsized rate hikes. Later in the week, investors will look to the Fed’s preferred price indicators and U.S. private spending data due out on Friday.

The US dollar remained virtually unchanged, while monetary policy-sensitive two-year Treasury yields rose.

“With the Fed’s first rate cut since 2020 in the history books, many investors may be asking, ‘What now?'” said Chris Larkin of E*Trade at Morgan Stanley. “This keeps economic growth, particularly the labor market, in focus.”

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In Europe, meanwhile, traders digested worse-than-expected manufacturing data that fueled bets on more aggressive rate cuts by the European Central Bank. The euro slumped while European stocks rose slightly. Weak PMI data for France and Germany on Monday were followed by figures showing that the euro area private economy contracted for the first time since March.

The common currency lost up to 0.7 percent of its value against the dollar.

“The market is crying out for a more aggressive rate cut, especially after what we’ve seen from the Fed,” Marija Veitmane, senior multi-asset strategist at State Street, said on Bloomberg Television. The ECB is “definitely lagging,” she said.

French government bonds lagged their peers after a new French cabinet made up of conservatives and centrists was appointed late Saturday night, with investors concerned that a government collapse would jeopardize the government’s ability to get a budget through parliament in the coming weeks.

Company highlights:

Apollo Global Management Inc. has offered Intel Corp. a billion-dollar investment, people familiar with the matter said, a move that would be a vote of confidence in the chipmaker’s turnaround strategy.

Brookfield Asset Management has raised an initial $2.4 billion for a fund specializing in clean energy and transition investments in emerging markets, reaching about half of its goal.

Alex Karp, co-founder and chief executive of Palantir Technologies Inc., has a love-hate relationship with Wall Street. He says analysts don’t understand the company and he prefers Palantir’s loyal army of retail investors.

StandardAero Inc. is seeking to raise $1.1 billion in its IPO after its backer, Carlyle Group Inc., decided to take the aircraft maintenance services provider public rather than sell it.

BNP Paribas SA has agreed to take over the private banking business of HSBC Holdings Plc in Germany. The French credit institution is thus aiming for a larger piece of the growing German asset management market.

Andrea Orcel, CEO of UniCredit SpA, has more than doubled the bank’s stake in Commerzbank AG – a dramatic development that is likely to escalate tensions with the German government.

Elsewhere, Asian markets were boosted by speculation that China was close to announcing new economic stimulus, after cutting its short-term benchmark interest rate and holding a rare economic meeting scheduled for Tuesday.

“The start of the Fed’s easing cycle is likely to lead to further economic stimulus from China, especially as the 5% growth target appears elusive,” wrote Mohit Kumar, chief strategist and economist for Europe at Jefferies International Ltd., in a note. The “stimulus measures are also likely to be beneficial for Europe.”

Gold had earlier hit a record before paring back its move as escalating unrest in the Middle East fueled bets on further price gains in the metal due to its safe-haven status. U.S. energy stocks rose.

Important events this week:

• Interest rate decision Australia, Tuesday

• Japan Jibun Bank Manufacturing PMI, Services PMI, Tuesday

• Mexico CPI, Tuesday

• Speech by Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem on Tuesday

• Australia CPI, Wednesday

• China medium-term credit facility interest rate, Wednesday

• Sweden’s interest rate decision, Wednesday

• Interest rate decision Switzerland, Thursday

• ECB President Christine Lagarde speaks on Thursday

• US jobless claims, durable goods, revised GDP, Thursday

• Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will deliver a recorded speech at the 10th annual U.S. Treasury Market Conference on Thursday

• Interest rate decision for Mexico, Thursday

• Japan Tokyo CPI, Friday

• Chinese industrial profits, Friday

• Consumer confidence in the Eurozone, Friday

• US PCE, University of Michigan consumer sentiment, Friday

Some of the key market movements:

Shares

• The S&P 500 rose 0.2% (as of 10:18 a.m. New York time)

• The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.2%

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1%

• The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.4 percent

• The MSCI World Index rose 0.2 percent

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index remained little changed

• The euro fell 0.3 percent to 1.1130 dollars.

• The British pound rose 0.2% to $1.3346.

• The Japanese yen fell 0.2% to 144.13 per dollar

Cryptocurrencies

• Bitcoin rose 0.8% to $63,698.66

• Ether rose 3.7% to $2,668.32

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year government bonds rose five basis points to 3.79%

• The yield on German 10-year bonds fell by two basis points to 2.19 percent

• The yield on British 10-year bonds rose four basis points to 3.94 percent

Raw materials

• West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 1% to $71.72 a barrel

• The spot price of gold rose 0.4 percent to $2,631.49 per ounce.

This article was created with the support of Bloomberg Automation.Stocks.

• The S&P 500 rose 0.2% (as of 10:18 a.m. New York time)

• The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.2%

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1%

• The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.4 percent

• The MSCI World Index rose 0.2 percent

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index remained little changed

• The euro fell 0.3 percent to 1.1130 dollars.

• The British pound rose 0.2% to $1.3346.

• The Japanese yen fell 0.2% to 144.13 per dollar

Cryptocurrencies

• Bitcoin rose 0.8% to $63,698.66

• Ether rose 3.7% to $2,668.32

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year government bonds rose five basis points to 3.79%

• The yield on German 10-year bonds fell by two basis points to 2.19 percent

• The yield on British 10-year bonds rose four basis points to 3.94 percent

Raw materials

• West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 1% to $71.72 a barrel

• The spot price of gold rose 0.4 percent to $2,631.49 per ounce.

This story was created with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

– With assistance from Margaryta Kirakosian, Alex Nicholson, John Viljoen, Catherine Bosley and Alice Gledhill.

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