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Peabody Energy ( BTU ) falls; will buy Anglo American's coal mines

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Robinhood gains after brokerage upgrade

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Macy's slides after delaying Q3 report on accounting issue

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Indexes up: Dow 1.03%, S&P 500 0.72%, Nasdaq 0.81%

(Updates at market open)

By Johann M Cherian and Purvi Agarwal

Nov 25 (Reuters) -

The benchmark S&P 500 and the blue-chip Dow hit intraday

record highs on Monday while the Nasdaq also advanced, with

Scott Bessent's nomination as Treasury secretary in the incoming

Trump administration boosting investor sentiment.

President-elect Donald Trump ended weeks of speculation when

he named his choice late on Friday, with some investment

strategists saying Bessent could take measures to restrain

further government borrowing, even as he follows through on

fiscal and trade campaign pledges.

At 09:50 a.m. the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose

459.25 points, or 1.03%, to 44,753.77, the S&P 500 gained

43.12 points, or 0.72%, to 6,012.50 and the Nasdaq Composite

gained 153.88 points, or 0.81%, to 19,157.53.

The Russell 2000 index, tracking domestically

focused small-caps, rose 1.5%, inching closer to an all-time

high as the yield on 30-year Treasury bonds led

declines across the curve.

Yields on Treasury bonds had surged after Trump's

victory after expectations that his policies, considered broadly

positive for the economy and big corporates, could stoke

inflationary pressures and slow the pace of the Federal

Reserve's monetary policy easing.

"He (Bessent) might have a moderate approach to tariffs and

that's good news, because one of the fears is that if Trump does

impose strong tariffs, that could be inflationary and would mean

the Fed would have to perhaps reverse the present monetary

policy," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan

Capital Securities, New York.

Big banks gained, with Goldman Sachs ( GS ) rising 0.4%,

JPMorgan Chase & Co ( JPM ) up 0.6% and Morgan Stanley ( MS )

adding 0.6%, sending the broader Banks index 0.9%

higher.

Popular 'Trump trade' Tesla advanced 0.8%, while

other growth stocks such as Alphabet and Amazon.com ( AMZN )

rose 2.1% each.

The Consumer Discretionary and Communication

Services sectors rose 1.3% and 1%, respectively.

The benchmark S&P 500 was trading above 6,000 points,

and has jumped more than 4% since Nov. 4. The Russell 2000 index

has surged more than 8% in the same period.

Brokerage Barclays raised its full-year 2025 forecast for

the S&P 500 to 6,600 points from 6,500.

Investors have recently swung between expectation of a pause

versus a further cut in interest rates at the Federal Reserve's

December meeting. The CME Group's FedWatch Tool shows a near 56%

probability the central bank will deliver another 25 basis point

cut.

The Personal Consumption Expenditure report, the central

bank's preferred inflation gauge, will be on investors' radar

this Thanksgiving week.

Macy's fell 3.5% after the department-store operator

delayed the publication of its third-quarter results due to an

accounting issue.

Bath & Body Works ( BBWI ) raised

its forecast for full-year

adjusted profit, sending the retailer's shares up 21.5%.

Peabody Energy ( BTU ) dropped 1.8% after Anglo American

decided to sell its remaining Australian steelmaking

coal mines to the company for up to $3.78 billion in cash.

Retail trading platform Robinhood Markets advanced

4% after Morgan Stanley ( MS ) raised its rating on the stock.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 4.99-to-1

ratio on the NYSE, and by a 3.5-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 85 new 52-week highs and no new lows,

while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 252 new highs and 26 new

lows.