NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are rising Monday as technology companies, retailers and household goods companies gain ground. Some of the world's largest tech companies, including Apple and Microsoft, are leading the way. Energy companies are falling as crude oil prices continue to decline.
KEEPING SCORE: The S&P 500 index climbed 12 points, or 0.5 percent, to 2,747 as of 1:20 p.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 187 points, or 0.8 percent, to 24,822 behind gains from aerospace company Boeing, retailers Walmart and Home Depot, and payment processor Visa. The Nasdaq composite was on track for a record high as it gained 47 points, or 0.6 percent, or, 7,601. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks also traded around record highs as it rose 1 point to 1,648.
LEADERS: Apple climbed 1.4 percent to $192.97 as its annual developers conference got underway in San Jose. Alphabet, Google's parent company, gained 1.7 percent to $1,154.46 and chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices added 2 percent to $14.70.
Microsoft rose 0.9 percent to $101.68 after the company said it will pay $7.5 billion in stock to buy GitHub, a popular site where software developers can go to host and review each other's code. Around 27 million software developers around the world use its platform to share code and build businesses.
Retailers also moved higher. Under Armour rose 5.9 percent to $22.61 and Target gained 4.3 percent to $75.95 while Walmart picked up 2.3 percent to $84.92.
SUSTAINED GAINS? The S&P 500 rose 1.1 percent Friday after the government said employers added 233,000 jobs in May, a strong gain. On Monday they're adding to that move. It's been a while since that happened: the S&P 500 hasn't had two consecutive gains since May 14, the last day of a four-day winning streak. The index alternated between big gains and losses last week as Wall Street reacted to political turmoil in Italy and rising trade tensions. From the market's point of view, worries about Italy were resolved pretty quickly, while trade disputes weren't.
FACEBOOK POKED: Facebook didn't do as well as other large technology companies as investors once again turned their attention to its handling of users' data. The New York Times reported Sunday that Facebook struck data-sharing deals with at least 60 device makers, including Apple and Amazon, as it tried to get its app onto smartphones, and that the device companies were able to access users' friends without their explicit consent.
Ime Archibong, vice president of product partnerships, said in blog post that Facebook has maintained tight control over the technology and that it is not aware of any abuse by the companies that it teamed with.
Facebook lost 0.2 percent to $193.53. Earlier this year the stock skidded and Facebook's handling of user data was criticized after allegations a firm linked to the Trump campaign improperly harvested personal data from as many as 87 million Facebook accounts. Wall Street's concerns about the stock gradually faded and Facebook closed at an all-time high Friday.
CHINA'S WARNING: The Chinese government said Sunday that it won't step up purchases of American products if President Donald Trump taxes billions of dollars' worth of Chinese imports. China had promised to buy more goods from the U.S. last month, an announcement that led Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to say that the proposed tariffs were suspended and a potential trade war was "on hold." But more recently, Trump has renewed his threat to impose 25 percent tariffs on $50 billion in Chinese high-tech goods.
Chipmaker Micron Technology fell following reports that it and two other companies are being investigated by the Chinese government. The stock lost 0.6 percent to $58.38.
ENERGY: Energy companies traded lower as benchmark U.S. crude dropped 1.5 percent to $64.81 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, fell 1.6 percent to $75.56 per barrel in London.
HEALTH CARE: Companies reported results from cancer drug studies at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Nektar Therapeutics plunged 40.8 percent to $53.47 after it and a partner disclosed data from a potential treatment for pancreatic cancer. Analyst Debjit Chattopadhay of H.C. Wainwright said investors were concerned by mixed results from the study and a lack of information and a lung cancer drug study.
As of Friday, Nektar stock had more than tripled in value since early November. Shares of its partner Bristol-Myers Squibb lost 4.2 percent to $50.90. Merck gained 2.2 percent to $61.91 after it reported encouraging results from studies of lung cancer treatments.
BONDS: Bond prices dipped. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.93 percent from 2.90 percent late Friday.
CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 109.73 yen from 109.51 yen. The euro rose to $1.1692 from $1.1662.
OVERSEAS: Germany's DAX rose 0.4 percent and France's CAC 40 added 0.2 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 climbed 0.5 percent. The benchmark Nikkei 225 in Japan rose 1.4 percent and the South Korean Kospi gained 0.4 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rallied 1.7 percent.
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AP Markets Writer Marley Jay can be reached at http://twitter.com/MarleyJayAP His work can be found at https://apnews.com/search/marley%20jay