US stocks rallied Monday, with all three major indices setting new closing records, as investors focused on a rebound in oil prices while awaiting the minutes of the US Federal Reserve. The price of West Texas Intermediate, the USA benchmark crude oil, rose 1.5% to $46.42. The S&P 500 materials index gained 1 per cent. The Nasdaq composite added 29.12 points, or 0.6 percent, to 5,262.02.
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The Dow is down 24.45 points, or 0.1 percent.
The S&P 500 index has notched 13 record intraday highs since July, including on Monday.
In other commodities, London Metal Exchange copper futures were up 0.3% and nickel fell 0.9%, while gold rose 0.8% to $1,348 a troy ounce. The University of Michigan’s popular Index of Consumer Sentiment is down over the year, and 17 percent of respondents to a recent Gallup poll indicated the “economy in general” is the No. 1 problem facing America today.
US crude jumped $1.25, or 2.8 percent, to $45.74 a barrel in NY. Starts climbed 5.6% from a year earlier, the second-best increase since the recession.
Energy stocks pushed higher after oil prices pushed to a three-week high.
Performance Sports Group Ltd., which owns the Bauer and Easton sports brand, saw its shares drop $2.09, or 46.44 per cent, to $2.41 after the company said it couldn’t file an audited annual report with regulators on time.
Post Properties hit a record high after the company agreed to be bought by Mid-America Apartment Communities for about $3.88 billion.
Most Asian markets ended the day with decent gains.
Among the gainers on the session were Twilio Inc (NYSE: TWLO), which had added 12 percent late in the day, and GoPro Inc (NASDAQ: GPRO), which climbed more than 9 percent near the close of trading.
Water treatment company Xylem announced a $1.7 billion deal for Sensus, a company that provides smart meters, network technology, and analytics used by water, electric and gas utilities.
At 10 a.m. Eastern, investors are expected to get an August figure for a housing market index from the National Association of Home Builders. Meanwhile, private consumption nudged up just 0.2%, down from 0.6% growth the quarter before.
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Surging oil prices provided a boost to energy stocks, which added 0.6%. Sterling rose to $1.2975 after the inflation release, up from $1.2880 late Monday in NY. Brent crude futures were even eyeing $50 a barrel on Monday. On the NASDAQ, 1,625 issues rose and 665 fell. According to the live dollar index data the ICE US Dollar Index, a measure of the dollar’s value against a basket of six major currencies, slipped 0.11% to 95.586. Additional stimulus is also likely on tap in Japan, where the nation’s economy barely grew in the second quarter. Take JC Penney Company Inc (NYSE:JCP), which gained almost 7% for Edge subscribers today.
