Investing.com – Wall Street opened higher on Monday as the expected tax bill passage ignited investor confidence.
The S&P 500 rose 15 points or 0.59% as of 10:41 AM ET (15:41 GMT) while the Dow composite surged 168 points or 0.68% to reach a record high of over 24,800. Tech heavy NASDAQ Composite rose 53 points or 0.77%.
On Friday, two undecided Republican senators agreed to support the bill, which nearly guarantees its passage. The House and Senate are expected to pass the proposal and deliver the bill to U.S. President Donald Trump by the end of the week for his signature.
Chocolate maker Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) rose 0.53% amid news that it was nearing a deal to buy the maker of SkinnyPop popcorn, Amplify Snack Brands Inc (NYSE:BETR), for $1.6 billion. Amplifty surged 70.43%.
Meanwhile technology stocks were up with Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) increasing 1.42% while social media site Twitter increased 8.24% after JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) upgraded the platform’s stock. Online retailer Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) surged 9.36% after it announced an initial coin offering to help reshape the firm.
Elsewhere Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) fell 0.65% and Teva Pharma Industries Ltd ADR (NYSE:TEVA) slipped down 0.11% while Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. (NYSE:NAK) decreased 10.00% after First Quantum bought a majority stake in one of the company’s projects.
In Europe stocks were up. In Germany the DAX surged 210 points or 1.62% while France’s CAC 40 increased 68 points or 1.27% and in London the FTSE 100 gained 34 points or 0.47%. Meanwhile Spain’s IBEX 35 rose 85 points or 0.84% and the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 was down 42 points or 1.19%.
In commodities, gold futures rose 0.66% to $1,265.80 a troy ounce while crude oil futures increased 0.09% to 57.38 a barrel. The U.S dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, fell 0.54% to 92.96.