US Stocks Back In Record Territory As Oil Shares Gain

NEW YORK, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 15th August, 2016) - US stocks climbed back into record territory early Monday as higher oil prices boosted petroleum-linked equities. Dow member Chevron rose 0.3 percent and ConocoPhillips 1.1 percent as oil prices gained on speculation producers in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will move to limit output next month. About 40 minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 18,643.79, up 0.4 percent. The broad-based S&P 500 rose 0.3 percent to 2,190.01, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.4 percent to 5,254.27. All three indices were above record highs struck last week. Most US-listed Chinese stocks rose on speculation the Chinese government will soon launch a scheme to link trading on the Shenzhen exchange with the Hong Kong bourse.

Baidu, JD.com and Renren all rose 3.5 percent or more. But Alibaba, which advanced more than 12 percent after strong earnings Thursday, shed 0.5 percent. Twitter jumped 4.5 percent on a New York Times report that it was in talks with Apple to bring its streaming of US NFL football games this fall to Apple tv.

Apple rose 0.9 percent. Real estate investment trust Post Properties surged 8.7 percent on news it agreed to be acquired by MAA, another REIT, creating a company with a combined market capitalization of about $17 billion.

MAA lost 5.4 percent. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International rose 7.3 percent following an upgrade by Mizuho. This week's Calendar includes US consumer price index data for July and earnings from leading retailers including Wal-Mart Stores and Home Depot.