The benchmark S&P 500 rose and the Nasdaq reached all-time highs on Monday as most megacap and growth stocks advanced, though risk sentiment remained in check as Treasury yields held near multi-year highs. Heavyweight tech stocks took the lead, with Nvidia rising 1.2 percent, hovering close to its record high hit in the previous session. Meta Platforms, Microsoft and Tesla were up between 1.6 percent and 2.4 percent. Ten of the 11 S&P 500 sectors were trading higher, with communication services and energy leading gains. Real estate was the sole laggard. "The AI and tech story continues to drive the bus ... it is so strong that it can fight the headwind from higher interest rates," said Dennis Dick, founder and market structure analyst at Triple D Trading. Chip stocks were slightly weak with the Philadelphia chips index down 0.1 percent, while software-related companies were among the top gainers. The S&P 500 software & services index rose 1.2 percent. PTC was the top gainer on the S&P 500, rising 34 percent after France's Schneider Electric agreed to acquire the software firm in a $22.6 b