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U.S. stocks rose on Monday, with the S&P 500 closing at a record high and the Nasdaq Composite Index ending at a high not seen since November 2000, boosted by upbeat housing data and tech shares.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average Index surged 106.20 points, or 0.72 percent, to 14,818.75 points. The broader S&P 500 soared 11.37 points, or 0.72 percent, to 1,593.61 points. The tech- rich Nasdaq leapt 27.76 points, or 0.85 percent, to 3,307.02 points.
The S&P 500 edged very close to its all-time intraday high of 1, 597.35 points set on April 11 before retreating in the last hour of trading.
On the economic front, U.S. pending home sales in March rose 1. 5 percent to its highest level in three years, according to a report released Monday by the National Association of Realtors. The reading exceeded market expectations.
Moreover, U.S. personal income increased 0.2 percent in March after jumping 1.1 percent in the prior month, and personal consumption expenditures advanced 0.2 percent, weaker than the February's 0.7-percent increase, the Commerce Department said Monday.
Tech shares led the broad gains, helping the Nasdaq outperform the other two main stock indices.
Apple shares climbed 3.10 percent to 430.12 dollars a share on rumors that the iPhone maker could launch its iPhone 5s smartphones earlier than expectation.
Hewlett-Packard shares gained 2.65 percent, while Microsoft was up 2.58 percent and IBM up 2.49 percent, the three biggest leaders among the Dow components.
In corporate news, Herbalife shares rose in the after-hours trading after the nutritional supplement maker reported better- than-expected first-quarter earnings after the closing bell. Herbalife made a profit of 118.8 million dollars in the first quarter, up 10 percent year on year, while its revenue rose 17 percent to 1.1 billion dollars.
According to Thomson Reuters data, a little more than half of the S&P 500 companies have reported first-quarter earnings, among which some 69 percent have beaten analysts' forecast. Analysts now expect earnings growth of 3.8 percent for the quarter, up from a 1.5-percent increase they predicted at the beginning of April.
SINA Corporation's shares jumped 9.40 percent to 55.03 dollars as it announced that Alibaba Group has invested 586 million dollars to purchase shares of Weibo Corporation, SINA's wholly owned subsidiary, before the opening bell in New York market.
The market also gained momentum from Italy's rising stocks and bond prices, pushing its borrowing costs to an over-two-year low, as a coalition government was established in the past weekend, ending two months of political deadlock in the debt-ridden country.
On other markets, oil prices rose on Monday, boosted by positive U.S. economy data and expectations of ease monetary policies from global central banks.
Light, sweet crude for June delivery gained 58 cents, to settle at 93.58 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent for June delivery was up 65 cents, or 0.63 percent to close at 103.81 dollars a barrel.
The U.S. dollar weakened against major currencies on Monday over speculations that the U.S. Federal Reserve would maintain the current pace of its asset-purchasing program.
The Fed will start a two-day policy meeting from Tuesday and it' s expected to keep purchasing 85 billion dollar of assets per month as recent data showed there are still uncertainties in U.S. economic recovery.
In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.3096 dollars from 1.3028 dollars of the previous session and the British pound increased to 1.5489 dollars from 1.5488 dollars. The Australian dollar jumped to 1.0358 dollars from 1.0282 dollars. The dollar bought 98.01 Japanese yen, lower than 98.22 yen of the previous session.
