The Dow Jones industrial average set a record during a quiet Monday of trading, as Wall Street geared up for the most anticipated meeting of the Federal Reserve in years.

The Dow rose 228 points, or 0.6%, to surpass its prior all-time high set a few weeks ago. The S&P 500 index, which is much more comprehensive and widely followed on Wall Street, ticked up by 0.1% to climb within 0.6% of its own record set in July.

The Nasdaq composite slipped 0.5% as big technology stocks and other market superstars gave back a bit of their big gains from recent years.

Most stocks rose on Wall Street, and Oracle’s gain of 5.1% helped lead the market. The software company continued a strong run that began last week with a better-than-expected profit report.

Alcoa also jumped 6.1% after saying it would sell its ownership stake in a Saudi Arabian joint venture to Saudi Arabian Mining Co. for $950 million in stock and $150 million in cash. But drops for some influential Big Tech stocks kept indexes in check, including declines of 2.8% for Apple and 1.9% for Nvidia.

Treasury yields eased in the bond market ahead of Wednesday’s meeting for the Federal Reserve, where it’s expected to cut its main interest rate for the first time in more than four years.

The only question is by how much relief for the economy the Fed will deliver. Traders are shifting more bets toward a larger-than-usual move of half a percentage point, according to data from CME Group. They’re anticipating a 63% chance the Fed will go beyond the traditional cut of a quarter of a percentage point. That’s up from 50% on Friday and just 30% a week ago.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 3.62% from 3.66% late Friday. The two-year yield, which moves more closely with expectations for the Fed, eased to 3.56% from 3.59%.

On Wall Street, Carl Icahn’s Icahn Enterprises rose 14.5% after it said a U.S. judge dismissed a proposed class-action lawsuit against the company, one based on allegations by a research firm that looks for financial irregularities at companies and tries to profit when the stock prices fall.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 7.07 points to 5,633.09. The Dow added 228.30 to 41,622.08, and the Nasdaq composite fell 91.85 to 17,592.13.

— Associated Press

Trump pushes sons’ crypto venture

Donald Trump headlined an event Monday billed as the unveiling of a crypto platform promoted by the Republican nominee and his sons, putting the spotlight on a niche digital-asset sector with a history of controversy.

The project, World Liberty Financial, will be part of the decentralized finance segment of digital assets and is supposed to help with financial security and being able to transact freely, Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. said in an X Spaces live-stream on Monday.

The Republican nominee has pivoted to courting the digital-asset sector in search of donations and votes amid a tight race for the White House. His stance is an about-face given that he previously denounced Bitcoin as a “scam.”

“If we don’t do it, China is going to do it. China is doing it anyway. But if we don’t do it, we’re not going to be the biggest, and we have to be the biggest and the best,” Trump said.

Trump’s sons Eric Trump and Donald Jr. began promoting World Liberty Financial on X and Telegram in recent weeks.

Red Lobster emerges from bankruptcy

Red Lobster has exited Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

A U.S. bankruptcy judge approved the casual seafood chain’s reorganization plan earlier this month, which included a lender group led by asset manager Fortress Investment Group acquiring the business. The green light arrives under just four months after Red Lobster filed for bankruptcy protection as it pursued a sale.

The Orlando, Fla.-based chain, which lost $76 million in 2023, shuttered dozens of its North American restaurants over recent months — both leading up to and during the bankruptcy process. That included more than 50 locations whose equipment was put up for auction just days before the Chapter 11 petition, followed by additional closures throughout the bankruptcy process.

Red Lobster’s new CEO is Damola Adamolekun, former chief executive of P.F. Chang’s. Adamolekun was previously appointed to head RL Investor Holdings, the newly formed entity that acquired Red Lobster. He previously said that the company’s long-term investment plan included a commitment of more than $60 million in new funding.

Washington state adds grocery deal challenge

Washington state went to court Monday to try to block a proposed merger between Albertsons and Kroger, saying shoppers would pay hundreds of millions more for groceries each year if the supermarket chains are no longer closely competing.

Albertsons and Kroger insist a merger would help them lower prices and better compete with big rivals like Walmart, Costco and Amazon.

“This is the real competition,” Kroger attorney Mark Perry said in his opening arguments in King County Superior Court in Seattle.

But Glenn Pomerantz, an attorney for Washington, noted that there are no Walmarts in Seattle or in many of the other markets in which Albertsons and Kroger currently operate. Albertsons and Kroger own more than 300 stores in the state and control more than half of grocery sales there.

“There is no existential threat going on here. There is just healthy competition,” Pomerantz said. “Kroger and Albertsons don’t need to merge to be successful. They’re already successful.”

The case is one of three challenging the $24.6 billion deal, which was announced nearly two years ago. The Federal Trade Commission is currently fighting the merger in federal court in Oregon, where closing arguments were expected Tuesday. Colorado has also sued to block the merger.

Intel lands $3B U.S. military chip contract

The Biden administration announced Monday that it would award Intel up to $3 billion to expand the company’s manufacturing of advanced semiconductors for the U.S. military.

The program, called Secure Enclave, aims to create a trusted source of computer chips for the U.S. government. It will be funded out of a pool of money from the 2022 bipartisan CHIPS Act, which lawmakers passed in an attempt to reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign sources of semiconductors.

Intel officials said Monday that the company would help “secure the domestic chip supply chain” and work with federal officials to “enhance the resilience of U.S. technological systems.”

— From news services