US stocks end higher as oil steadies

Wall Street stocks finished higher Monday after US oil prices rose for the first time in more than a week, offering a reprieve to the commodity rout.
Dow members ExxonMobil and Chevron gained 2.3 percent and 3.3 percent, respectively, after US oil prices finished higher for the first time in seven sessions. The S&P 500 lost 3.8 percent last week as the oil slump deepened.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 103.29 points (0.60 percent) at 17,368.50.

The broad-based S&P 500 advanced 9.57 (0.48 percent) to 2,021.94, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index added 18.76 (0.38 percent) at 4,952.23.

"It looks like the US equities market was taking its cues from oil today," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at BMO Private Bank. "We had oil dip below $35 a barrel and then ending up the day higher."

Apple fell 0.6 percent after Morgan Stanley lowered its price target on the technology giant based on a forecast of falling 2016 iPhone sales.

Other leading technology shares rallied. Amazon rose 2.8 percent, Facebook 2.5 percent and Google parent Alphabet 1.2 percent.

Jarden, the maker of Mr. Coffee coffeemakers, AeroBed inflatable mattresses and other consumer goods, rose 2.7 percent after it agreed to be acquired by Newell Rubbermaid, maker of Rubbermaid storage containers, Sharpie pens and Calphalon cookware, for $15.4 billion. Newell Rubbermaid fell 6.9 percent.

Yahoo fell 1.0 percent as investment fund SpringOwl called for the company to slash more than 80 percent of its workforce and replace chief executive Marissa Mayer. SpringOwl did not disclose the size of its investment in the tech company.

Dow Chemical dropped 3.9 percent on news activist Daniel Loeb called for the ouster of chief executive Andrew Liveris. Dow announced Friday a mega-merger deal with chemical giant DuPont. DuPont shed 3.6 percent.

Natural gas company Cheniere Energy fell 2.9 percent on news it replaced Charif Souki as chief executive with board member Neal Shear as interim chief.

First Solar jumped 5.7 percent and SolarCity 12.3 percent after 195 nations reached an historic deal over the weekend to cut emissions to address climate change.

Electric-car maker Tesla Motors advanced 0.7 percent. Coal producers Consol Energy and Peabody Energy lost 3.7 percent and 13.2 percent, respectively.