U.S. Stocks Up on Energy, Mining Companies

U.S. stocks rose Monday as a jump in commodities prices boosted shares of energy and mining companies.

Oil prices rose for a fourth consecutive session, edging back toward $50 a barrel after some large producers said they would support extending a deal to cut output. Concerns about rising supplies of oil have dented the S&P 500's energy sector, which has fallen 9.7% this year.

"A lot of the imbalances that we saw in the crude oil markets are beginning to stabilize," said Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at Baird. The prospect of oil production coming closer in line with consumption has led to this "relief rally in oil," he said.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 85.33 points, or 0.4%, to 20981.94. The S&P 500 rose 11.42, or 0.5% to 2402.32 and the Nasdaq Composite added 28.44, or 0.5%, to 6149.67. Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq reached fresh highs.

U.S. crude oil rose 2.1% to $48.85 a barrel after top energy officials in Saudi Arabia and Russia said they would back a nine-month extension to the deal led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Energy stocks in the S&P 500 climbed 0.6%. Halliburton gained $1.37, or 3% to $46.51. Marathon Oil rose 26 cents, or 1.8% to 14.54.

Materials shares in the S&P 500 rose 0.8%. Base metals prices gained after Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday pledged more than $100 billion in new financing as part of a infrastructure project.

Shares of Symantec Corp., a maker of antivirus software, climbed 99 cents, or 3.2%, to $32 after a global cyberattack hit computers around the globe.

Investors continue to bet the economy will be strong enough for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates in June, even after a recent soft patch in economic data. Ongoing growth should lift stocks, several said.

"As long as you've got economic growth, you tend to favor equities or equity-like instruments over bonds," said Paul Flood, multiasset manager at Newton Investment Management.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose to 2.338%, from 2.331% Friday. Yields rise as prices fall.

The Stoxx Europe 600 rose less than 0.1%, buoyed by a 0.9% climb in the oil and gas sector.

The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.2%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 0.9%.

Write to Gunjan Banerji at Gunjan.Banerji@wsj.com and Riva Gold at riva.gold@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 15, 2017 17:21 ET (21:21 GMT)