Advertisement
UK markets closed
  • FTSE 100

    7,952.62
    +20.64 (+0.26%)
     
  • FTSE 250

    19,884.73
    +74.07 (+0.37%)
     
  • AIM

    743.26
    +1.15 (+0.15%)
     
  • GBP/EUR

    1.1705
    +0.0011 (+0.10%)
     
  • GBP/USD

    1.2619
    -0.0003 (-0.03%)
     
  • Bitcoin GBP

    55,264.82
    -690.70 (-1.23%)
     
  • CMC Crypto 200

    885.54
    0.00 (0.00%)
     
  • S&P 500

    5,254.35
    +5.86 (+0.11%)
     
  • DOW

    39,807.37
    +47.29 (+0.12%)
     
  • CRUDE OIL

    83.11
    -0.06 (-0.07%)
     
  • GOLD FUTURES

    2,254.80
    +16.40 (+0.73%)
     
  • NIKKEI 225

    40,369.44
    +201.37 (+0.50%)
     
  • HANG SENG

    16,541.42
    +148.58 (+0.91%)
     
  • DAX

    18,492.49
    +15.40 (+0.08%)
     
  • CAC 40

    8,205.81
    +1.00 (+0.01%)
     

US STOCKS-Wall St at record highs as tech, energy stocks rally

* S&P energy jumps more than 2 pct as oil gains

* Facebook (NasdaqGS: FB - news) surges on $6 bln buyback news

* Tyson Foods (Frankfurt: 870625 - news) slumps on profit miss, CEO departure

* Indexes up: Dow 0.4 pct, S&P 0.6 pct, Nasdaq (Frankfurt: 813516 - news) 0.8 pct (Updates to late afternoon, adds dateline)

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK, Nov 21 (Reuters) - All three major U.S. stock indexes were on track to hit closing records on Monday, helped by gains in energy and other commodity-related shares and as Facebook led a jump in technology.

The indexes, all of which hit intraday record highs, have rallied since the Nov. 8 U.S. election, with investors snapping up shares of banks, health care and other companies expected to benefit from President-elect Donald Trump's policies.

ADVERTISEMENT

The energy index gained 2.1 percent to a 16-month high, dominating the gainers among the 11 major S&P sectors, as U.S. oil prices jumped 3.9 percent. Hopes that the OPEC would agree to an output cut next week lifted oil prices. The S&P materials index was up 1 percent.

"I think the post-election rally is continuing," said Bucky Hellwig, senior vice president at BB&T Wealth Management in Birmingham, Alabama. "There was some concern that rates might rise too far, but it looks like they may have slowed down a little bit."

"A lot of money came out of bond funds last week, and I think that can continue, given the spread between what stocks can do versus bonds."

The technology index, which had dropped 0.4 percent since the election, was up 0.9 percent. Facebook (Swiss: FB-USD.SW - news) rose 4 percent, giving the Nasdaq its biggest boost, after the company announced a $6-billion share buyback program late Friday.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 69.58 points, or 0.37 percent, to 18,937.51, the S&P 500 gained 13.45 points, or 0.62 percent, to 2,195.35 and the Nasdaq Composite added 40.88 points, or 0.77 percent, to 5,362.39.

A spate of tech deals also boosted sentiment in the sector and the broader market.

LifeLock (NYSE: LOCK - news) surged 15.2 percent after Symantec said it would buy the identity theft protection company for $2.3 billion. Symantec rose 4.7 percent.

Applied Micro Circuits jumped 11 percent after Macom Tech said it would buy its fellow chipmaker for $770 million. Macom was off 4.1 percent.

Tyson Foods shares fell 14.2 percent after the meat processor forecast a lower-than-expected 2017 profit and said its CEO would step down.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 3.11-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.39-to-1 ratio favored advancers.

The S&P 500 posted 37 new 52-week highs and 3 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 223 new highs and 19 new lows. (Additional reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Nick Zieminski)