01:35 PM EDT, 06/17/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US equity indexes and government bond yields rose midday Monday after a manufacturing gauge in contraction territory improved more than forecast and as investors weighed European political developments.

The S&P 500 climbed 0.5% to 5,460.2, after hitting an intraday record of 5,462.09 earlier in the session. The Nasdaq Composite traded 0.6% higher at 17,770.4, also touching a new high of 17,807.74. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2% to 38,668.2.

Technology, industrials, and consumer staples led the gainers, while real estate was the steepest among the trio of decliners intraday.

In economic news, the New York Federal Reserve's Empire State manufacturing index improved to negative 6 in June from negative 15.6 in May, compared with a negative 11.3 reading expected in a Bloomberg survey. The reading is the first for the manufacturing sector for June, suggesting a slowdown in the pace of contraction.

France's CAC 40 made a cautious rebound of 0.9% at the close on Monday after slumping last week, possibly responding to moderate comments made by Marine Le Pen, leader of the rising National Rally party. Le Pen's party appears to be gaining strength in parliamentary electoral polls following a surprise move by French President Emmanuel Macron to dissolve the parliament, opening the door for the potential reshaping of politics in the EU.

The US 10-year yield jumped 6.4 basis points to 4.28%, and the two-year rate advanced 6.8 basis points to 4.75%.

Meanwhile, the main US release due this week on Tuesday is the retail sales for May. "At best a modest gain is expected given what we know so far about auto sales and gasoline prices," according to a note from Scotiabank. "Guidance from the National Retail Federation nevertheless points to a solid rise."

In company news on Monday, Autodesk (ADSK) shareholder Starboard Value said Monday it plans to sue the company and its board for allegedly failing to disclose material accounting and disclosure issues.

Starboard is seeking to leverage a now-completed internal investigation that resulted in no financial restatement as a pretext for re-opening the advance notice period, a statement from Autodesk said Monday. Autodesk shares rose 6.8% intraday, the top performer on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil jumped 1.6% to $79.72 a barrel.

Gold fell 0.7% to $2,332.12 an ounce, and silver was down 0.3% to $29.39.