NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — US stocks cruised to fresh records for the second straight day on Monday amid a tech-sector mega-merger and the opening debate in Congress on a Republican plan for deep corporate tax cuts.
Oil stocks also rose as crude prices hit a two-year high on political upheaval in Saudi Arabia.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up less than a tenth of a percentage point at 23,549.1 and the S&P 500 added 0.1 percent to reach 2,591.13.
With the big merger offer between two of the world’s largest chip makers, the tech-rich Nasdaq rose 0.3 percent, to close at 6,786.44.
“The big story today is energy and the IT sector,” Karl Haeling of LBBW told AFP, noting that the S&P energy index rose more than two percent.
“That’s probably helping optimism over mergers and acquisitions.”
Shares in Broadcom rose 1.4 percent on Monday’s news of the company’s proposed $130 billion acquisition of rival chipmaker Qualcomm, which also saw its shares rise 1.2 percent.
Meanwhile, oil markets reacted to news over the weekend that the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, consolidated power with a purge of other royal family members and government officials.
The moves quickly sent markets higher. A barrel of benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery soared $1.71 to finish at $57.35.
Oil shares felt the impact, with Royal Dutch Shell and BP soaring more than two percent, while Chevron rose 1.8 percent, ConocoPhillips added 1.3 percent Exxon Mobil jumped 0.7 percent.
Meanwhile, in Washington, Republican lawmakers began debate on sweeping proposed tax cuts, which would lower corporate tax rates to 20 percent from 35 percent — a prospect that has cheered investors since Trump’s election victory a year ago.
Paying for the tax cuts, however, has proved a thorny issue for Republicans and the bill’s chances of success are less than guaranteed.
In other big stock moves, Michael Kors raised its 2017 revenue forecast, bucking a trend among retailers and seeing its share price skyrocket 14.7 percent.
© Agence France-Presse
