Stock Market Shakes Off Geopolitical Worries, Weak Data To Trade Solidly Higher

U.S. stocks kicked off trade on Monday with solid gains, setting the stage for a modest bounce after a three-day Easter holiday weekend. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 70 points, or 0.3%, at 20,526, the S&P 500 index rose 7 points, or 0.3%, at 2,335, while the Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 22 points, or 0.4%, at 5,828. The tech-laden Nasdaq was trying to avoid its first four-session skid since November. A number of European markets remained closed in observance of Easter Monday. Moves for markets follow rising geopolitical tensions, including a warning from U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, who told Pyongyang not to test President Donald Trump's "resolve" after a failed missile test over the weekend. In corporate news, shares of United Continental Holdings , parent of United Airlines, was trading higher and set to report quarterly earnings later Monday after the close of trade. The air carrier has been at the center of a public-relations storm after passenger Dr. David Dao was forcibly dragged off a flight last week, as it sought to reaccomodate its own staffers. In economic data, a reading of New York manufacturing, the Empire State Index, disappointed, falling to a reading of 5.2 in April from a two-year high of 16.4 in March.