US stocks registered small gains on Monday amid a few high-profile mergers and as investors searched for fresh catalysts and grappled with mixed feelings about the US Federal Reserve’s dovish move last week. Valspar shares were sharply higher, however.
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Bargain hunting in the health care sector, up 0.6%, helped stabilize the broader market.
American benchmark West Texas Intermediate increased 1.2 percent during the day to trade at 41.66 per barrel at the time when the stock market closed.
At Monday’s close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 22 points at 17,624, the S&P 500 gained 2 points at 2,052, the Nasdaq rose 13 points to 4,809 and the Russell 2000 fell 3 points at 1,099.
Markets are closed Friday for Good Friday.
The April contract settled 1.2% higher at US$39.91 a barrel, while May oil, the front-month contract, gained 0.9% to end at US$41.52 a barrel.
But there was some volatility in the oil market.
Disappointing housing data, in the form of existing-home sales (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/existing-home-sales- plunge-71-to-a-3-month-low-in-february-2016-03-21), highlighted ongoing rockiness in a housing market struggling to find its footing.
Crude prices edged up despite uncertainty about a plan to freeze production and signs of US producers increasing drilling activity.
Stocks to watch: Starwood Hotels & Resorts (HOT) shares jumped 4.5% after it agreed to a sweetened $13.6 billion deal with Marriott Monday, trumping last week’s competing bid from a group led by China’sAnbang Insurance Group Co. Paint maker Sherwin-Williams also struck a deal to buy competitor Valspar in a cash deal valued at more than $9 billion. Energy and materials shares were both off 0.5%.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. shares were up 7.1% after it announced the departure of its chief executive and said billionaire investor Bill Ackman had joined its board as it tries to cleans up accounting problems and save its business.
Following the worse-than-expected home sales data, Goldman Sachs lowered its first quarter GDP tracking estimate by one tenth to 2.3 percent, according to a note from Goldman’s Elad Pashtan.
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The US dollar closed unchanged, while gold dropped $10 to $1,2442 an ounce.
