Stocks rally: Dow up 175, Nasdaq hits 14-year high
Stocks closed sharply higher Monday as the Dow surged 175 points and the Nasdaq jumped to a 14-year high.
The rebound came as concerns over the Ukrainian conflict began to ease and investors shifted focus to corporate dealmaking and economic news.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 175.83 points, or 1.1%, to 16,838.74. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 16.68 points, or 0.9%, to 1971.74, and was inching closer to its record closing high of 1987.98, set on July 24.
The Nasdaq composite index gained for a fourth straight session and hit a fresh high for the year, jumping 43.39 points, or 1%, to 4508.31.
Shares of Dollar General surged 11.6% to $64.14 after it jumped into the 'dollar store' wars by offering $9.7 billion for Family Dollar. That topped rival Dollar Tree's earlier bid of $8.5 billion. Family Dollar was up 4.9% to $79.81 and Dollar Tree dropped 2.4% to $54.26.
Good news on the housing front added to the rally as homebuilders were feeling more confident about sales prospects. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo builder sentiment index for August rose to its highest level since January.
Despite various geopolitical tensions in Ukraine, Iraq and elsewhere, stocks are still an attractive investment, said Dan Curtin, a global investment specialist for JPMorgan Private Bank.
"There are a lot of distractions out there, but the fundamental focus on equities is positive," Curtin said.
Bond prices fell which send the yield on the 10-year Treasury note up to 2.39% from 2.34% Friday. Yields move in the opposite direction of bond prices.
European stocks were higher as Britain's FTSE 100 index was up 0.8% to 6741.25 and Germany's DAX index jumped 1.7% to 9245.33.
But Asian markets were subdued by further signs of weakness in China's property market. Japan's Nikkei 225 index and Hong Kong's Hang Send index traded just above the flat line as Seoul's Kospi dropped 0.5%.
U.S. stocks ended mixed in a volatile session Friday on concerns the conflict in Ukraine was escalating. But stocks still posted gains for the week.
Contributing: The Associated Press