Wall Street Shrugs Off Concerns To Edge Higher

Investors shrugged off geopolitical jitters on Monday, sending US stocks broadly higher and extending the market's gains from last week.

Technology companies, health care stocks and industrial firms accounted for much of the rally as traders focused on the latest company earnings and deal news. Oil prices fell after surging last week ahead of the US-led missile attack on Syria's chemical weapons programme.

"It's some relief from the global political situation over the weekend," said Willie Delwiche, investment strategist at Baird. "The other thing is we've had over the last few weeks particularly this build up in pessimism, and that provided some opportunity for stocks to rally once the news of this event was out of the way."

The S&P 500 index rose 0.8 percent, to 2,677. The Dow Jones gained 0.9 percent to 24,573. The Nasdaq added 0.7 percent to 7,156. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks picked up 0.9 percent, to 1,563.

The market was in rally mode from the start of trading on Monday, despite a sell-off among major indexes in Europe.

Investors seemed to put aside concerns over the geopolitical tensions that led to Friday night's missile attack by the US, Britain and France on Syria's chemical weapons programme. On Monday, the White House said it was considering imposing additional sanctions on Russia, a key ally of Syrian leader Bashar Assad.

Instead, the market shifted its focus to corporate America. Wall Street is forecasting the strongest growth in seven years for S&P 500 companies, and the hope has been that healthy profit reports will steady the market following a rough couple of months. Over the long term, stock prices tend to track the progress of corporate profits.

Investors welcomed JB Hunt Transport Services' latest quarterly results on Monday. The transportation company said shipping volumes grew in the first quarter and rates increased. Its shares climbed 6.2 percent to US$119.75.

Bank of America also got a post-earnings boost after the lender posted a larger profit, helped by corporate tax cuts and rising interest rates. Its shares rose 0.4 percent to US$29.93.

A couple of gambling companies were among the big movers on Monday.

Carl Icahn's company struck a roughly US$1.85 billion deal that would fuse the gambling and hotel operations of Tropicana Entertainment to Eldorado Resorts Inc. Tropicana vaulted 26.8 percent to US$69.75. Eldorado jumped 16.2 percent to US$41.50.

Truck and engine maker Navistar International jumped 9.8 percent to US$40.71 after Reuters reported that Volkswagen might buy the company.

Traders sold shares in WPP, the world's largest ad agency, after its CEO, Sir Martin Sorrell, resigned over an investigation into personal misconduct. Analysts say his departure could leave the company he founded three decades ago rudderless, but could also see parts sold off for higher value. The stock fell 4.7 percent to US$80.56.

Oil prices fell back from spikes last week on fears over an escalation of strife in the Middle East. Benchmark US crude declined US$1.17, or 1.7 percent, to settle at US$66.22 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, which is used to price international oils, slid US$1.16, or 1.6 percent, to close at US$71.42 per barrel.

Bond prices didn't move much. The yield on the 10-year Treasury held steady at 2.83 percent.

The dollar fell to 107.10 yen from 107.41 yen on Friday. The euro strengthened to US$1.2381 from US$1.2334.

Gold rose US$2.80 to US$1,350.70 an ounce. Silver added 2 cents to US$16.68 an ounce. Copper gained 2 cents to US$3.10 a pound.

In other energy futures trading, heating oil dropped 3 cents to US$2.07 a gallon, while wholesale gasoline slid 3 cents to US$2.04 a gallon. Natural gas rose 2 cents to US$2.75 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Major indexes in Europe finished mostly lower. Germany's DAX lost 0.4 percent, while the CAC 40 in France ended essentially flat. The FTSE 100 in Britain dropped 0.9 percent. (AP)