US stocks climb, building on a big gain in October
Source: AP
By MARLEY JAY and KEN SWEET
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are rising on Wall Street Monday as the market comes off its biggest monthly gain in four years. Health care stocks were among the winners in afternoon trading as drugmakers Pfizer and AbbVie climbed.
KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average rose 174 points, or 1 percent, to 17,837 as of 3:30 p.m. Eastern time. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 26 points, or 1.3 percent, to 2,106. The Nasdaq composite index increased 73 points, or 1.5 percent, to 5,127.
HEALTH CARE: Drug giant Pfizer rose $1.11, or 3.3 percent, to $34.93, the biggest gain in the Dow. The shares slumped late last week on word Pfizer is in talks to buy competitor Allergan. AbbVie, which surged 10 percent Friday on strong third-quarter results, climbed $3.22, or 5.4 percent, to $62.77 after analysts at Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock. Health-care stocks gained 2 percent, nearly twice as much as the broader S&P 500 index.
EARNINGS: Earnings season is nearly through, and the stock market has recovered significantly as companies have reported somewhat better results than initially expected. With 340 companies out of the S&P 500 reporting, third-quarter earnings are down 2.2 percent compared to a year earlier. When earnings season began, analysts were looking for earnings to be down 5.2 percent.
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