US close: Stocks end mostly higher as investors eye earnings season

US stocks ended mostly higher on Monday, with technology issues pacing the advance as investors braced for the start of earnings season and looked ahead to a speech by Fed Chair Janet Yellen later in the week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended flat at 21,408.52, the S&P 500 closed up 0.1% at 2,427.43 and the Nasdaq added 0.4% to 6,176.39.

Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG said: “It is not surprising to see the Nasdaq outperforming the Dow and S&P 500 so far in the US session, given it is tech stocks that have taken such a battering over the past six weeks. The week has opened with little in the way of news, which is no doubt hampering activity, but there is plenty to come later in the week, in the form of a Yellen speech and bank earnings, which should help chivvy things up a bit.”

Second-quarter earnings are due this week from banking heavyweights JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Wells Fargo, while Yellen is due to testify before a Congressional panel.

Meanwhile, oil prices were back in the black and well off their session lows. West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude were up 0.4% at $44.42 and $46.90, respectively,

Acting as a backdrop, leaders of the G-20 group of countries met in Hamburg over the weekend to discuss issues such as trade, climate change and defence.

In corporate news, electric car maker Tesla was a talking-point after its shares tanked last week and as the company's Model 3 sedan rolled off the assembly line over the weekend.

Shares of ClubCorp Holdings rocketed after Apollo Global Management offered to scoop up the owner of golf and country clubs for $1.1bn.

Going the other way, Abercrombie & Fitch cratered after announcing it had called off talks aimed at a possible buyout deal.