Bank of Hawaii celebrated the opening of its first branch kiosk in Kahala Mall with a traditional blessing Monday. The four-teller branch, the first of its kind for the bank, is between Longs Drugs and Macy’s.

The kiosk will be open daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. It includes two digital screens, a consultation area to meet with clients one on one, Wi-Fi and a nearby ATM.

Bankoh’s kiosk offers additional banking services while its Waialae-Kahala branch is being renovated. The temporary Waialae-Kahala branch is steps away from the kiosk on the first floor of the Kahala Office Building.

Banks, technology companies propel stocks

Technology companies and banks helped power stocks on Wall Street broadly higher Monday, extending the market’s gains of the past two weeks.

The rally came as investors found fresh reason for optimism as the U.S. and China continue negotiations aimed at resolving their costly trade war. China’s top negotiator said over the weekend that “substantial progress” was being made in its talks with the U.S. Tensions over trade between Washington and Beijing have cooled recently.

The latest gains nudged the S&P 500 above 3,000 points for the first time in a month. The benchmark index is now within 0.7% of its all-time high, set July 26, but could need a catalyst to set a record.

“This would be about the fourth time since July that we’re coming up against that all-time high again,” said Randy Frederick, vice president of trading and derivatives at Charles Schwab. “I have a hard time seeing us break through that if we don’t get some kind of a trade deal.”

The S&P 500 index rose 20.52 points, or 0.7%, to 3,006.72. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 57.44 points, or 0.2%, to 26,827.64. The index was weighed down by a sharp drop in Boeing shares.

The Nasdaq climbed 73.44 points, or 0.9%, to 8,162.99. The Russell 2000 index of smaller stocks did much better than other indices in another sign of investors’ confidence. The index picked up 14.66 points, or 1%, to 1,550.14.

ON THE MOVE

Catholic Charities Hawaii has selected Robert “Rob” Van Tassell as its new chief executive officer and president, as of Nov. 4. He has 20 years’ experience in affordable-housing development and operations and is currently vice president for Catholic Housing Services, in western Washington. Tassell previously held various positions within the private sector, including housing developer for Beacon Development Group, executive vice president of Perspective Portals and associated consultant for Gunn Partners.

Strategies 360 Hawaii has named Donalyn Dela Cruz as the firm’s new senior vice president. She joined S360 Hawaii as vice president of communications in June 2018. Dela Cruz has more than 20 years of experience in communications in the state and federal government as well as in the private sector.