(By Salman - iStockAnalyst Writer)US stocks finished mostly higher on Monday as investors shrugged off weakness in commodity prices. A rally in defensive stocks also lifted sentiment.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 44.13 points or 0.53% to finish at 8,324.87. The S&P 500 climbed 2.30 points or 0.26% to end at 898.72. The Nasdaq Composite fell 9.12 points or 0.51% to 1,787.40.
American Express (NYSE:
AXP) jumped $1.25 or 5.61% to $23.52.JP Morgan Chase (NYSE:
JPM) rose 33 cents or 1.02% to $32.60.
Merck & Co. (NYSE:
MRK) soared 88 cents or 3.26% to $27.89.
Shares of consumer giant Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:
PG) gained $1.06 or 2.07% to $52.17.
Kraft foods (NYSE:
KFT) advanced 48 cents or 1.85% to $26.44.
On the downside, Shares of Alcoa (NYSE:
AA), the largest aluminum maker, plunged 60 cents or 6.09% to $9.26.
Bank of America (NYSE:
BAC) tumbled 49 cents or 3.88% to $12.15.
Early on Monday, EMC Corp. (NYSE:
EMC) announced that it has increased its offer to acquire all the outstanding common stock of Data Domain Inc. (NASDAQ:
DDUP) to $33.50 per share in cash, for a total enterprise value of approximately $2.1 billion, net of cash. Shares of Data Domain advanced 85 cents or 2.56% to $34.06.
A bankruptcy judge has approved General Motors Corp. plan to sell the bulk of its assets to a new company, potentially clearing the way for the carmaker to quickly emerge from bankruptcy protection. Judge Robert Gerber gave his approval late Sunday after three days of hearings last week, saying it "is the only available means to preserve the continuation of GM's business."
Late on Thursday, LDK Solar Co. (NYSE:
LDK) said it expects to report revenue in the range of $215 million to $225 million in the fiscal second quarter. Analysts currently expect the company to report revenue of $253.4 million. Shares of LDK Solar plummeted $1.02 or 9.35% to $9.89.
Global miner Rio Tinto (NYSE:
RTP) on Monday agreed to sell its Americas food packaging business for $1.2 billion, and analysts said they expected more asset sales to follow soon. Shares of Rio Tinto lost $10.26 or 6.47% to close at $148.23.
On the economic front, the Institute for Supply Management said that its services index climbed to 47% from 44%.
European stocks settled down. The UK FTSE slipped 41.37 points or 0.98% to 4,194.91. The German DAX and French CAC decreased 1.2% and 1.2% respectively.
Asian stocks finished with losses. The Nikkei 225 dropped 135.20 points or 1.38% to 9,680.87. The Hang Seng index of Hong Kong subtracted 223.99 points or 1.23% to end at 17,979.41.
NYMEX crude oil for August delivery declined $2.68 or 4% to settle at $64.05 a barrel.
Disclosure: Author does not own any of the stocks discussed here.
