Also spurring buying after a week of mostly down days: a drop in import prices suggesting inflation has peaked ... and as Summit Place Financial Advisor's Liz Miller points out ... data signaling an expansion in business activity in the Northeastern U.S.
"I think investors are looking at that one data point as hope that it is the first to spread through the rest of the economy as we try to work through the renewed COVID surge that we've been seeing."
Buying was across the board. The Dow rose seven-tenth of a percent. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq added more than eight-tenth percent.
Casino stocks like Wynn Resorts and MGM Resorts were among the top decliners on the S&P for a second straight day. J.P. Morgan downgraded all gaming stocks with exposure to Macau one day after the Macau government proposed to revise the city's gaming law in the world's largest gambling hub.
Shares of Kansas City Southern rose a half percent. Canadian Pacific Railway inked a $27 billion deal to buy the American railroad operator after Canadian National Railway pulled out of the bidding war.
Home improvement loan provider GreenSky's shares rocketed 53% higher. Goldman Sachs is buying the firm in an all-stock deal valued at $2.2 billion in a bid to expand its consumer banking business.
Shares of Ford gained nearly 3%. It's teaming up with retailer Walmart and self-driving startup Argo AI to autonomously deliver orders to Walmart customers using its vehicles.
