The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 on Monday picked up where they left off last week, riding gains to new record highs after closing in record territory on Friday.

Shortly after Monday's opening bell, the Dow was up over 200 points and surpassed the 38,000 mark for the first time ever. The S&P 500 was up over 20 points to briefly break the marks they set last week.

They later retreated Monday to fall below their high-water marks. The Dow closed up 138 points to finish at 38,001, while the S&P 500 gained 10.6 points to close at 4,850.

As was the case during last week's record closings, the Nasdaq Composite was also making gains. The Nasdaq was up 49 points for the session to close at 15,367.

The rally was a continuation of last week's rally that pushed Wall Street into bull market territory. Signs of easing inflation and possible interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve later this year have investors jumping into action.

"It's almost like a fear of missing out," Brian Price, head of investment management at Commonwealth Financial, told CNBC. "We had a little bit of volatility to start the year as investors maybe rebalance portfolios and look to realize some gains. But now, it just seems like we're resuming the trend that was clearly in place."

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