Stocks Jump as Oil Soars

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The markets closed out the holiday-shortened trading session with solid gains, driven by energy and materials shares that got a boost from rallying commodity prices.

Today's Markets

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 72.4 points, or 0.56%, to 12944, the S&P 500 rose 5.3 points, or 0.39%, to 1371 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 24.9 points, or 0.84%, to 2976.

Oil prices rallied on the back of saber rattling by Iran. The country, which has been facing stiff sanctions from the U.S. and European Union, has once again began talking about potentially trying to cut the critical Straight of Hormuz off to tankers that have the flag of the countries that are sanctioning it, according to multiples news reports.

The benchmark contract traded in New York soared $3.23, or 3.9%, to $86.98 a barrel. Wholesale New York Harbor gasoline jumped 3.1% to $2.706 a gallon.

After a report released on Monday showed the U.S. manufacturing sector contracted for the first time since July 2009, the increasingly frail global economy has taken the spotlight. A report from the Commerce Department showed U.S. factory orders rose 0.7% in May from April, topping estimates of a 0.2% increase.

Vehicle manufacturers are also set to report their monthly sales on the day. Expectations are for a strong month, with June sales hitting the highest level since 2007. Chrysler said its U.S. sales jumped 20% on a year-to-year basis. Meanwhile, Ford (NYSE:F) revealed a 7% rise on the same basis.

In corporate news, Barclays (NYSE:BCS) Chief Executive Officer Bob Diamond resigned as the bank continues feeling tremors from the interest-rate rigging scandal.

In metals, gold climbed $14.60, or 0.91%, to $1,612 a troy ounce.

Foreign Markets

The Euro Stoxx 50 rose 1.2% to 2320, the English FTSE 100 gained 0.83% to 5688 and the German DAX climbed 1.3% to 6578.

In Asia, the Japanese Nikkei 225 jumped 0.7% to 9067 and the Chinese Hang Seng rallied 1.5% to 19736.