Despite ongoing worries across much of the Middle East and a surging price for crude oil, U.S. equity markets trended higher in Monday trading. The broad S&P 500 led the way on the upside, posting gains of 0.8% compared to a 0.6% jump in the Dow and a 0.5% rise in the tech-heavy Nasdaq. Oil markets were the main focus as traders bid up the price of the important commodity in light of ongoing tensions in Egypt, pushing the price of oil up close to $3/bbl or roughly 3.1% in the trading session. A variety of other commodities also surged on the day as the U.S. dollar slumped, pushing everything from livestock to grains higher for the session.
One of the biggest ETF gainers on the day was the Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) which rose by 2.8% during Monday trading. Energy firms were boosted by a robust report from ExxonMobil (XOM) in which the oil giant said that its earnings rose 53% in the fourth quarter. The company posted a profit of $9.25 billion on revenues of $105.19 billion, beating estimates which called for roughly $99.11 billion in revenues. The report boosted shares of XOM by $1.70 on the day, pushing it up past the $80 mark and into 52-week high territory. The news also pushed up a variety of other firms in the sector which are reporting later in the week as traders looked to get in ahead of these likely to be optimistic reports. As a result,
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Adrianne Curry Jennifer Gimenez Katie Cassidy Estella Warren Cinthia Moura
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