U.S. Stock Indexes Post Records, Fueled by Energy Shares

Rallying energy shares pushed U.S. stock indexes to another set of records.

The S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite posted fresh highs together Monday for the 26th time this year.

A recovery in commodity prices, a pickup in growth across economies around the world and a weaker dollar have helped major indexes climb double-digit percentages this year, investors and analysts say. Some also said they would be watching for signs of progress on a Republican tax bill, which was unveiled last week.

"The question is whether valuations are already reflecting all of the good news -- whether it's economic growth or tax reform -- and then trying to determine where that leaves us with stocks," said Dan Miller, director of equities at GW&K Investment Management.

The Dow industrials rose 9.23 points, or less than 0.1%, to 23548.42. The S&P 500 added 3.29 points, or 0.1%, to 2591.13 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 22 points, or 0.3%, to 6786.44.

Energy shares in the S&P 500 jumped 2.2%, posting their second-biggest one-day percentage gain of the year. Chesapeake Energy climbed 44 cents, or 12%, to $4.18, leading gains in the sector.

U.S. crude for December delivery added 3.1% to $57.35 a barrel Monday -- its highest settlement since June 2015 -- with several analysts attributing the move to a wave of arrests in Saudi Arabia that raised concerns of a possible disruption to oil flows.

Despite the recent rebound in oil prices, energy shares in the S&P 500 are still lagging behind. The sector is down 6.3% so far this year, making it the second-biggest decliner in the S&P 500 after telecom.

Meanwhile, corporate news drove swings in other areas of the stock market.

Qualcomm shares rose 71 cents, or 1.1%, to 62.52 after Broadcom launched a $105 billion takeover bid for the chip maker. Broadcom shares jumped 3.89, or 1.4%, to 277.52.

Intel rose 63 cents, or 1.4%, to 46.70 and Advanced Micro Devices jumped 81 cents, or 7.3%, to 11.93 after The Wall Street Journal reported the two companies were teaming up to battle a common competitor, Nvidia.

Sprint shed 77 cents, or 12%, to 5.90 and T-Mobile US fell 3.37, or 5.7%, to 55.54 after the two companies officially called off their merger Saturday, putting an end to a deal that would have combined the No. 3 and No. 4 wireless carriers in the U.S.

Elsewhere, the Stoxx Europe 600 index edged up 0.1%, buoyed by gains in shares of basic resources and technology companies.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average moved off early gains as traders returned after a three-day weekend. The index closed up less than 0.1%.

Write to Akane Otani at akane.otani@wsj.com and Mike Bird at Mike.Bird@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 06, 2017 17:46 ET (22:46 GMT)