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U.S. stocks reversed the losses in morning session to close higher on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average setting fresh intraday and closing highs ever for five sessions in a line and the Standard & Poor's 500-stock Index just 0.57 percent below its historical high.
The blue-chip Dow was up 50.22 points, or 0.35 percent, to 14, 447.29. The broader S&P 500 rose 5.04 points, or 0.32 percent, to 1,556.22. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index gained 8.50 points, or 0.26 percent, to 3,252.87.
The main stock indices opened lower, dampened by generally falling equity markets in China and Europe on Monday. Fitch Ratings downgraded Italy's long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDR) to 'BBB+' from 'A-' Friday.
A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York, the United States, on March 8, 2013. (Xinhua/Wang Lei)
China's consumer price index in February jumped to a 10-month high of 3.2 percent from the year-ago period mainly due to higher food and goods prices during the Spring Festival season, China's National Bureau of Statistics said Saturday.
Meanwhile, China's industrial value-added output rose 9.9 percent year-on-year in the first two months of this year and the pace was down 1.5 percent from the same period last year, the same source said.
However, the Japanese stock benchmark Nikkei gained 0.53 percent, scoring the longest winning streak since July 2009 as investors expected Bank of Japan to take more aggressive steps to spur the Japanese economy.
The U.S. equity market recouped morning losses in the afternoon session, boosted by some good news from big companies since there were no important economic data for the United States released on Monday.
Genworth shares surged 6.71 percent to 10.50 U.S. dollars, driving the S&P 500 higher after Barron's, a notable U.S. financial magazine, said the mortgage insurer's shares were undervalued.
Shares of Dow component Boeing advanced 2.11 percent to 82.94 dollars, pushing the Dow higher, after the aircraft maker announced that it had finally identified the problem with its Dreamliner 787.
Dell shares gained 1.48 percent to 14.37 dollars after Carl Icahn's hedge fund had reportedly signed a confidentiality agreement with buyout target Dell. Icahn, the personal computer's shareholder, had ever tried to block Dell's go-private.
The CBOE Volatility Index, considered the fear gauge of market, dropped below 12, a six-year low, though the stock market has continued to go up so quickly and so dramatically recently.
After Monday's rally, the Dow and S&P 500 gained for 7th consecutive session, climbing 10.2 percent and 9.1 percent respectively so far this year.
The U.S. dollar weakened against most of major currencies but rose versus the Japanese yen on Monday as the recently nominated Bank of Japan governor Haruhiko Kuroda is expected to take aggressive monetary easing measures.
Light, sweet crude for April delivery gained 11 cents, or 0.12 percent, to settle at 92.06 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Monday.
However, Brent crude for April delivery edged down 73 cents or 0.66 percent, to close at 110.12 dollars a barrel.
Gold future for April delivery on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 1.1 dollars, or 0.07 percent, to settle at 1,578 dollars per ounce on Monday.
