By Kate Gibson, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks gained Monday, extending Wall Street’s best weekly performance this year, as investors applauded Spain’s request for financial aid for its banks.
“While this aid has little chance of stimulating Spain’s deeply recessionary economy, it does reduce the threat of a new wave of financial contagion emanating from the euro-zone debt crisis,” David Kelly, chief global strategist at J.P. Morgan Funds, in emailed research.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA +0.08% climbed 46.32 points, or 0.4%, to 12,600.52, with 25 of its 30 components positive.
The S&P 500 Index SPX -0.02% added 3.54 points, or 0.3%, to 1,329.20, with telecommunications leading the gains among its 10 sectors.
The Nasdaq Composite COMP -0.18% advanced 4.58 points, or 0.2%, to 2,863.
For every stock on the decline, nearly two advanced on the New York Stock Exchange, where 81 million shares traded as of 9:50 a.m. Eastern.
Kate Gibson is a reporter for MarketWatch, based in New York.
