Wall Street ticked higher ahead of a week of reports showing how strong U.S. shoppers remain, amid hopes their spending can keep the economy out of a recession.
The S&P 500 ended 0.6 percent higher Monday, even though more stocks fell than rose in the index. The Dow eked out a gain of 26 points and the Nasdaq composite rose 1.1 percent.
Stocks have been lackluster in August following a gangbusters first seven months of the year. U.S. Steel jumped to one of Wall Street’s bigger gains after it said it rejected a buyout offer from Cleveland-Cliffs.
On Monday:
The S&P 500 rose 25.67 points, or 0.6 percent, to 4,489.72.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 26.23 points, or 0.1 percent, to 35,307.63.
The Nasdaq composite rose 143.48 points, or 1.1 percent, to 13,788.33.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 4.62 points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,920.49.
For the year:
The S&P 500 is up 650.22 points, or 16.9 percent.
The Dow is up 2,160.38 points, or 6.5 percent.
The Nasdaq is up 3,321.85 points, or 31.7 percent.
The Russell 2000 is up 159.25 points, or 9 percent.
