U.S. markets close up Monday

The U.S. Census Bureau said construction spending rose 0.3 percent in March, the first uptick in six months. Pending sales of existing homes also rose, up 3.2 percent in March, the National Association of Realtors said.

By close Monday, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 214.33 points, or 2.61 percent, to 8,426.74. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 3.39 percent, 29.72 points, to 9,313.39. The Nasdaq index added 44.36 points, 2.58 percent, to 1,763.56.

On the New York Stock Exchange, 2,618 stocks advanced and 455 declined on a volume of 5.5 billion shares traded.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury was unchanged Monday, yielding 3.155 percent.
The dollar fell. The euro traded at $1.3414, compared to Friday's 1.3264.

Against the yen, the dollar traded at 98.78 yen, compared with Friday's 99.28 yen.

The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo closed up 1.69 percent, gaining 149.11 points, to 8,977.37.

The FTSE index in London lost 0.49 points, 0.01 percent, to 4,243.22.

Copyright 2009 by United Press International.