US close: Stocks push higher despite mixed economic data

US stocks finished Monday's session higher despite a batch of mixed economic data, with the Dow rising for the third straight day as indices continue their attempted recovery from last week's sell-off.

With little to no corporate news moving blue chip stocks during the session, the focus was on economic data, which showed declines in both durable-goods orders and consumer confidence and an increase in new home sales.

Nevertheless, Wall Street trading was expected to be somewhat muted this week, with the NYSE shutting up shop early on Tuesday for the festive break and not opening again until Thursday.

The Dow gained 0.2% to 42,096.65, inching higher for the third consecutive session following a 10-day losing streak which saw the index drop 6% of its value.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq both rose for the second straight day, gaining 0.8% and 1.0% respectively.

Economic data in focus

Economic data was mixed on Monday, starting with US durable-goods orders which fell for the third time in four months. Orders were down 1.1% in November, after a 0.8% gain in October, worse than the 0.4% decline expected by the market.

Elsewhere, consumer sentiment in the US unexpectedly declined in December, pulling back after strong gains over the previous two months as concerns about the future outlook returned. The Conference Board's closely followed consumer confidence index fell to 104.7 this month from 112.8 in November, surprising analysts who had forecast a small improvement to 112.9.

Meanwhile, new home sales rose by 5.9% to 664,000 in November, slightly ahead of the 650,000 consensus estimate, but only partially rebounding after the revised 14.8% slump registered the month before.

In other news, the Chicago Federal Reserve's national activity index increased to -0.13 in November, up from a downwardly revised -0.50 reading in October.

M&A news moves Xerox, Nordstrom, Despegar.com

Xerox Holdings said on Monday that it has agreed to buy printer maker Lexmark International in a deal $1.5bn deal, causing the former to surge nearly 13%. Xeros said the deal will strengthen its core print portfolio and build a broader global print and managed print services "business better suited to meet the evolving needs of clients in the hybrid workplace".

Department-store chain Nordstrom announced a deal to sell the company back to its founding family and Mexican peer El Puerto de Liverpool, valuing the company at $6.25bn. Under the terms of the deal, shareholders will receive $24.25 a share in cash, a 42% premium to the closing price on 18 March – the day before M&A speculation began – though this was slightly below Friday's closing price.

Latin America-focused travel agent Despegar jumped 34% after Prosus said it would buy the Argentina-based company for $1.7bn.

Dow Jones - Risers

Intel Corp. (INTC) $20.20 3.48%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $99.37 1.35%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $506.34 1.24%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $570.78 0.83%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $58.98 0.79%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $145.27 0.55%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $238.39 0.33%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $255.27 0.31%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $241.36 0.25%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $264.00 0.24%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $9.30 -2.62%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $90.35 -2.05%
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $221.93 -0.64%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $111.40 -0.56%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $291.29 -0.47%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $435.25 -0.31%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $62.38 -0.27%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $76.76 -0.23%
3M Co. (MMM) $128.98 -0.23%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $342.90 -0.22%

S&P 500 - Risers

Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $232.35 5.24%
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) $124.60 4.52%
Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) $57.87 4.25%
Eli Lilly and Company (LLY) $796.28 3.71%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $139.67 3.69%
QUALCOMM Inc. (QCOM) $158.24 3.50%
Humana Inc. (HUM) $255.74 3.50%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $20.20 3.48%
KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $647.99 2.96%
Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (LW) $63.90 2.92%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Carnival Corp. (CCL) $25.73 -3.99%
Foot Locker Inc. (FL) $21.55 -3.84%
Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) $0.90 -2.99%
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NCLH) $26.13 -2.90%
Brown Forman Corp. Class B (BF.B) $40.16 -2.71%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $9.30 -2.62%
Resmed Inc. (RMD) $231.17 -2.57%
FedEx Corp. (FDX) $269.01 -2.44%
Omnicom Group Inc. (OMC) $86.70 -2.43%
Dollar General Corp (DG) $74.62 -2.33%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $0.35 11.25%
Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $232.35 5.24%
Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) $57.87 4.25%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $139.67 3.69%
QUALCOMM Inc. (QCOM) $158.24 3.50%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $20.20 3.48%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $88.46 3.10%
KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $647.99 2.96%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $73.80 2.80%
Meta Platforms Inc. (META) $599.85 2.49%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Workday, Inc. (WDAY) $265.39 -2.80%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $9.30 -2.62%
eBay Inc. (EBAY) $63.64 -2.11%
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $207.57 -1.65%
Hasbro Inc (HAS) $56.78 -1.39%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $12.31 -1.20%
O'Reilly Automotive Inc. (ORLY) $1,207.26 -0.97%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $88.11 -0.94%
Intuit Inc. (INTU) $638.30 -0.79%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $134.99 -0.76%