The Dow and S&P 500 finished at fresh records on Monday, concluding a buoyant third quarter positively as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signalled expectations for more interest rate cuts.

Powell expressed optimism that there will be "further disinflation" after receding pricing pressure allowed the central bank to cut interest rates earlier this month.

This week's data includes the September jobs report, which will affect the Fed's monetary policy moves.

The S&P 500 finished at 5,762, up 0.4 percent for the day and up about 5.5 percent for the quarter.

The Dow Jones was up 0.4 percent at 42,330, while the Nasdaq climbed 0.4 percent to 18,189.

Major indices have hit repeat records in recent weeks amid expectations for more Fed easing in the coming months.

"This has been a great quarter," said Steve Sosnick at Interactive Brokers. "It's hard to find losers this quarter."

Among individual companies, AT&T rose 0.4 percent after announcing that it had reached an agreement to sell its remaining stake in DirecTV to TPG, saying it expects to garner US$7.6 billion in the transaction.

Carnival slipped 0.3 percent despite reporting higher profits on a record US$7.9 billion in quarterly revenues. Briefing.com praised the results, but noted that shares of the cruise company had risen 25 percent since mid-August.

CVS Health rose 2.4 percent following a report that Glenview Capital is pressing management to boost returns. (AFP)