How major US stock market indexes fared on Monday

The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks advanced 11.32 points, or 0.8 percent, to 1,426.68. On Monday:The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 5.61 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,429.02. The Russell 2000 is up 69.55 points, or 5.1 percent. U.S. stocks rose Monday as banks continued to climb along with interest rates, and energy companies rallied again with oil prices. For the year:The S&P 500 is up 190.19 points, or 8.5 percent.


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Biotech, drugmakers, healthcare new champions of the stock market

Now that things have been looking up for biotech, investors are starting to pay a higher premium to protect gains. But after some bullish news last week, drug developers now look poised to give them a run for their money. While a significant portion of post-election stock market gains have resulted from optimism around proposed political policies, biotech drove returns the old-fashioned way: by getting good news. The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index (NBI) surged 9.2% over the five days, its biggest increase since the week of the election. It's the latest twist and turn for biotech stocks, which have been taken for a wild ride since the election.




Health care also tends to outperform, trading positively 70 percent of the time with average gains of 3.6 percent. The S&P 500 was higher 65 percent of the time, with average gains of 2.7 percent. Not surprisingly, the top performing sector was tech, trading positively 75 percent of the time, with gains of 4.5 percent. The Nasdaq Composite and Dow each traded positively 70 percent of the time, with average gains of 4.3 percent and 3.2 percent respectively. Year-to-date gains through Thursday: the Dow was up 7.7 percent, the S&P 500 is up 8 percent and the standout Nasdaq has soared over 14 percent.


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collected by :Jack Luxor