US stocks rose for a fourth straight session on Monday as large-cap technology shares gained and gave an outsized boost to the Dow, though continued weakness in crude oil weighed on the energy sector.
The S&P 500 ended at a record, though trading was quiet with many market participants out ahead of the upcoming Christmas holiday. About 6 billion shares traded on all US platforms, according to BATS exchange data, compared with the month-to-date average of 7.86 billion.
Tech was the strongest sector of the day, with the S&P information technology sector up 1.1 per cent . Intel Corp rose 2.3 per cent to US$37.21 ($45.74), providing the biggest boost to the Dow, while IBM rose 1.8 per cent to $161.44 and Cisco Systems rose 1.6 per cent to $28.22. Priceline Group rose 3.6 per cent to $1149.38.
"I wouldn't put a lot of weight on this week's trading, given year-end manoeuvres and how slow it is," said Rex Macey, chief allocation officer at Wilmington Trust Investment Advisors in Atlanta, Georgia. "While I'm comfortable with the level of the broader market, I don't think there are obvious bargains. Some may say oil stocks are bargains now, but it's too soon to say."
Crude oil sank 3.2 per cent after Saudi Arabia's powerful oil minister said OPEC would not cut production at any price. The S&P energy index fell 1 per cent as one of the day's weakest sectors; Chesapeake Energy fell 7.3 per cent to US$18.42 while Southwestern Energy was off 5.5 per cent at $29.31.
Crude oil is coming off four straight weeks of declines, and has fallen in 11 of the past 12 completed weeks.
The S&P rose 3.4 per cent last week, boosted by a 5 per cent jump over three sessions, after the U.S. Federal Reserve said it would take a "patient" approach toward raising interest rates and oil prices appeared to stabilise.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 154.57 points, or 0.87 per cent , to 17,959.37, the S&P 500 gained 7.89 points, or 0.38 per cent , to 2078.54 and the Nasdaq Composite added 16.04 points, or 0.34 per cent, to 4781.42.
Gilead slumped 14 per cent to US$92.90 as the biggest drag on both the S&P and Nasdaq 100. Express Scripts , the nation's largest pharmacy benefit manager, said it would no longer cover Gilead's treatments after it lined up a cheaper price from AbbVie Inc for its newly approved hepatitis C treatment.
Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc said it would test a combination of two of its experimental hepatitis C drugs which showed promise in separate studies. Shares surged 10 per cent to US$15.61.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by 1,806 to 1,291, for a 1.40-to-1 ratio on the upside; on the Nasdaq, 1,682 issues rose and 1,072 fell for a 1.57-to-1 ratio favouring advancers.
The benchmark S&P 500 index was posting 73 new 52-week highs and 5 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite was recording 144 new highs and 36 new lows
REUTERS
