Overnight, Tesla led the way on Wall Street with a gain of 4.9 per cent. The maker of electric vehicles has clawed back all its sharp losses from earlier in the year. It was down as much as 42 per cent at one point in April, when it was cutting prices on its cars to boost flaccid sales.

Financial markets have been romping higher after the Federal Reserve last week cut its main interest rate for the first time in more than four years by an unusually large amount. The hope is that as it continues to cut interest rates, the boost given to the US economy through lower rates for car loans, mortgages and other borrowing will help it avoid a recession.

But some critics say the Federal Reserve may be moving too late, with the job market already slowing, and call stock prices too high.

A report on Monday morning suggested US business activity is not growing as quickly as economists expected, mostly because of a continued downturn in manufacturing. The preliminary report from S&P Global said US manufacturing shrank more severely in September than in August and hit a 15-month low. It’s been one of the parts of the economy hurt most by high interest rates.

The overall figures suggest a US economy that’s still growing at a healthy rate, according to Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence. “But there are some warning lights flashing, notably in terms of the dependence on the service sector for growth, as manufacturing remained in decline, and the worrying drop in business confidence.”

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He also pointed to subdued activity among businesses given uncertainty heading into the US elections in November.

Several reports coming this week could offer more context about where the US economy stands. One on Thursday will offer the final reading for the US economy’s growth in the spring, and another on Friday will give a look at how much US consumers are spending.

Such economic reports, particularly on the job market, are taking top priority on Wall Street because the main fear is now a slowdown in the job market. It’s a notable shift from prior years, when the most attention was on anything related to inflation.

In stock markets abroad, indexes held mostly steady in Europe after preliminary data suggested business activity in the euro zone is weaker than economists expected. Germany’s DAX rose 0.7 per cent, while the French CAC 40 rose 0.1 per cent.