Investing.com – Wall Street traded mostly higher on Monday as positive news from automakers, mergers & acquisitions and upbeat data supported sentiment in holiday-thinned trade, but tech stocks dragged.
At 11:31AM ET (15:31GMT), the Dow Jones gained 193 points, or 0.90%, the S&P 500 rose 13 points, or 0.54%, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 7 points, or 0.11%.
Despite the downbeat sentiment in tech, the Dow hit a new record high Monday, although trading was light with Wall Street shutting its doors at 1:00PM ET (17:00GMT) ahead of the Independence Day holiday on Tuesday.
The financial sector continued to see investor enthusiasm after the Federal Reserve (Fed) approved capital plans last week and both Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) and JP Morgan (NYSE:JPM) led the Dow to a new record high with gains of nearly 3%.
Amid the general weakness in tech, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) were among Dow components in the red.
Outside the blue chip index, automakers supported investor sentiment on Monday as shares in Ford (NYSE:F) shot up nearly 4% after the firm reported that June U.S. sales fell 5.1%, beating estimates for a worse decline of 9.7%.
In other positive news, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) chief exec Elon Musk announced that production of the Model 3 sedan got the green light from regulators and would begin two weeks ahead of schedule.
Related to the sector, steelmaker AK Steel (NYSE:AKS) announced that it acquire automotive manufacturing equipment maker Precision Partners for $360 million.
In other M&A news, General Electric (NYSE:GE) on Monday completed its buyout of Baker Hughes Inc, merging it with its own oil and gas equipment and services operations to create the world's second-largest oilfield service provider by revenue.
Red Ventures will acquire Bankrate (NYSE:RATE) in a deal valued at around $1.24 billion.
On the economic front, manufacturing activity in the U.S. rose more than expected in June. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said its index of manufacturing activity advanced to 57.8 last month, jumping past expectations for a smaller rise to just 55.2.
In a lower tier report, U.S. construction spending unexpectedly remained flat in May, missing forecasts, but federal government outlays on construction projects were the highest in more than four years.
Meanwhile, oil recovered from a short-lived dip earlier on Monday, resuming its longest stretch of daily rallies in more than five years after data pointed to moderating U.S. output, though analysts said news of rising OPEC production could cap gains.
After the brief dip in early morning trade, oil was up for an eighth consecutive session, its longest such streak since February 2012.
Energy services company Baker Hughes reported on Friday that the number of active U.S. rigs drilling for oil declined by two to 756 rigs at the end of last week, its first decrease since January.
Despite the dip in U.S. drilling, the total rig count was still more than double the 341 rigs in the same week a year ago and investors remain concerned about the overall impact of increased production on the global supply glut.
U.S. crude futures gained 1.65% to $46.80 by 11:34AM ET (15:34GMT), while Brent oil traded up 1.37% to $49.44.