With traders shrugging off concerns about the impact of the government shutdown, stocks have moved higher in morning trading on Monday. The upward move has lifted the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 to record intraday highs.
Currently, the major averages remain in positive territory. The Dow is up 20.46 points or 0.1 percent at 26,092.18, the Nasdaq is up 37.44 points or 0.5 percent at 7,373.82 and the S&P 500 is up 9.28 points or 0.3 percent at 2,819.58.
The strength on Wall Street comes as lawmakers continue to struggle to reach an agreement on a spending bill to reopen the federal government.
The shutdown came after a spending bill approved by House Republicans failed to clear a procedural hurdle in the Senate on a largely party line vote of 50 to 49.
The bill would have funded the government through February 16th, reauthorized the popular Children's Health Insurance program for six years and delayed some Obamacare taxes.
The shutdown is largely due to a disagreement over whether to include protections for young illegal immigrants brought to the country as children in the spending bill.
Democrats have demanded the inclusion of protections for the illegal immigrants known as Dreamers, while Republicans have argued the issue should be addressed separately.
Both sides are blaming each other for the government shutdown, which marks the first official shutdown since October of 2013.
Biotechnology stocks have shown a substantial move to the upside on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index up by 5.4 percent. With the jump, the index has reached a record intraday high.
Juno Therapeutics (JUNO) is leading the biotech sector higher after the company agreed to be acquired by Celgene (CELG) for approximately $9 billion in cash.
Utilities and oil service stocks are also seeing considerable strength, while most of the other major sectors are showing more modest moves.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index closed just above the unchanged line, while South Korea's Kospi dropped by 0.7 percent.
The major European markets have also turned mixed on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is just below the unchanged line, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index are both up by 0.3 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have climbed back near the unchanged line after seeing initial weakness. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by less than a basis point at 2.643 percent.
by RTT Staff Writer
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