Stocks Close Higher Despite Afternoon Swoon - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - After an early move to the upside, stocks gave back ground in afternoon trading on Monday but managed to end the day higher. With the gains on the day, the major averages extended the rally seen in the previous session.

The Dow rose 94.81 points or 0.4 percent to 24,357.32, the Nasdaq advanced 55.60 points or 0.8 percent to 7,265.23 and the S&P 500 climbed 9.21 points or 0.4 percent to 2,672.63.

Stocks initially continued to benefit from the upward momentum seen last Friday in response to the Labor Department's monthly jobs report.

While the report showed weaker than expected job growth in the month of April, the unemployment rate fell to its lowest level since 2000.

The jobs report reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates next month, although subdued wage growth has led traders to believe the Fed will not increase rates too aggressively.

The pullback seen in afternoon trading came as President Donald Trump announced via Twitter that he will reveal his decision on the Iran nuclear deal on Tuesday.

Computer hardware, biotechnology and brokerage stocks saw significant strength on the day, while telecom and tobacco stocks showed notable moves to the downside.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index closed marginally lower, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index edged up by 0.2 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.3 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 0.9 percent and the German DAX Index jumped by 1 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries climbed off their worst levels of the day but still closed slightly lower. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, inched up by less than a basis point to 2.950 percent.