(RTTNews) – Stocks moved sharply higher during trading on Monday, extending the strong upward move seen over the past few sessions. The continued advance once again lifted the major averages to their best closing levels in over a month.
The major averages gave back some ground in the latter part of the trading day but remained firmly positive. The Dow advanced 250.62 points or 0.9 percent to 28,837.52, the Nasdaq spiked 296.32 points or 2.6 percent to 11,876.26 and the S&P 500 jumped 57.09 points or 1.6 percent to 3,534.22.
Technology stocks helped to lead the markets higher, as reflected by the significant advance by the tech-heavy Nasdaq.
Apple (AAPL) posted a standout gain, surging up by 6.4 percent, while Facebook (FB) and Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) also moved notably higher.
Shares of Twitter (TWTR) also showed a strong move to the upside after Deutsche Bank upgraded its rating on the social media giant to Buy from Hold.
The markets also continued to benefit from optimism about a new stimulus bill even though House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said talks will “remain at an impasse” until “serious issues” with the Trump administration’s latest proposal are resolved.
The White House has increased its offer to $1.8 billion in its latest proposal, but Pelosi still called the administration’s proposed bill “grossly inadequate.”
“The news is filled with the numbers in terms of dollars. The heart of the matter is: can we allow the virus to rage on and ignore science as the Administration proposes, or will they accept the scientific strategic plan in the Heroes Act to crush the virus,” Pelosi said in a letter to her Democratic colleagues.
“We have other differences in terms of who benefits from the spending,” she added. “But in terms of addressing testing, tracing and treatment, what