The US markets ended higher on Monday. The strength that emerged on markets reflected optimism about the economic outlook amid stepped up coronavirus vaccination efforts and the recent passage of a new $1.9 trillion stimulus bill. A pullback by treasury yields also have generated some buying interest, with the ten-year yield moving lower after ending last Friday's trading at its highest closing level in over a year. However, trading activity was somewhat subdued as traders looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday. The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, but traders will be paying close attention to any changes to the accompanying statement.
On the economic data front, a report released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York showed an acceleration in the pace of growth in New York manufacturing activity in the month of March. The New York Fed said its general business conditions index climbed to 17.4 in March from 12.1 in February, with a positive reading indicating growth in regional manufacturing activity. Street had expected the index to rise to 14.5. With the bigger than expected increase, the general business conditions index reached its highest level since hitting 21.2 in November of 2018. The advance by the headline index was partly due to a substantial acceleration in the pace of growth in shipments, with the shipments index jumping to 21.1 in March from 4.0 in February.
Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 174.82 points or 0.53 percent to 32,953.46, Nasdaq rose 139.84 points or 1.05 percent to 13,459.71 and S&P 500 was up by 25.6 points or 0.65 percent to 3,968.94.