(MENAFN- ProactiveInvestors) U.S. stocks ended higher on Monday as investors celebrated six years since the 2009 stock market bottom with the S&P 500 having more than tripled in value since then.
At the closing bell in New York the Dow Jones Industrial Average settled up 139 points at 17996 while the Nasdaq climbed 15 points to end at 4942 and the S&P 500 rose 8 points to finish at 2079. U.S. stocks tumbled on Friday on concerns the Fed would raise rates sooner than anticipated on the back of a strong jobs report.
There were no U.S. economic reports out on Monday. Gold futures posted their first gain this month with the contract for April delivery on the Comex rising 0.2% to settle at $1166.50 an ounce after having their biggest single session drop on Friday since December 2013.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange West Texas Intermediate crude for delivery in April settled up 0.8% at $50 a barrel after tallying a decline of 3.8% over the past two trading sessions.
In corporate activity () CEO Tim Cook unveiled its much-anticipated Watch device and a new thinner MacBook notebook computer. Shares rose 0.7%.
McDonald's () shares reversed earlier losses even after the company said its global same restaurant sales fell 1.7% last month much wider than the 0.8% drop analysts were expecting.
GM () said it will immediately begin buying back $5 billion worth of stock in an arrangement designed to avoid a proxy fight with investor Harry J. Wilson. The share buyback along with an additional $5 billion in dividend payments between now and 2017 is scheduled to conclude before the end of 2016. Shares added 3.1% on Monday.
Tesla () fell 1.6% on reports it is cutting jobs in China after missing sales targets in the country though the electric car maker did not disclose the number. Reports are saying however that the figure is around 180 from a total of 600 jobs.
There were no major earnings reports out this morning but retailer () is slated to report its quarterly figures after the closing bell.
In other news () shares rose after a research note from J.P. Morgan which said it expects increased usage and ad revenue.
() said it has agreed to buy () in a stock deal valued at $1.5 billion. Shares of RTI soared more than 38%.
European markets mostly pulled back Monday the start day of the ECB's $66.3 billion a month bond buying program. Meanwhile another standoff between Greece and its European lenders looms as the Greece Finance Minister said that the country could hold a referendum if creditors raise requests that aren't acceptable to the government ahead of a meeting of European finance ministers today.
In Asia Japan's Nikkei closed down almost 1% after revisions to the country's GDP hurt sentiment following a new report that estimated the economy grew an annualized 1.5% in the October-December period down from an initial reading of 2.2% last month.
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