By Noel Randewich
(Reuters) - U.S. stocks climbed to record highs on Monday, helped by optimism about merger activity and as investors bet that a Republican plan to cut corporate taxes would bolster earnings.
Qualcomm
"The fact that the deal is on the table is huge," said Paul Nolte, portfolio manager at Kingsview Asset Management in Chicago.
"We have not seen much in the way of dealmaking this year. So this might jump-start some of the dealmaking ahead of the tax policy changes."
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Twenty-First Century Fox
Investor optimism was also fueled by a Republican proposal last week to slash the corporate tax rate to 20 percent from 35 percent and end some tax breaks for companies and individuals.
"I think that has to be the main driver," said John Brady, managing director at R.J. O'Brien & Associates in Chicago. "Even if it only goes to 25 percent or 27 percent, it's still moving the right way."
Apple
Shares of Sprint
All three major indexes closed at record highs.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI> inched up 0.04 percent to end at 23,548.42, while the S&P 500 <.SPX> gained 0.13 percent to 2,591.13.
The Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> added 0.33 percent to 6,786.44.
The S&P 500 energy index <.SPNY> surged 2.2 percent on gains in crude prices
In extended trade, Priceline Group
With more than 400 of S&P 500 companies having reported, earnings for the third quarter are expected to have climbed 8 percent, compared with expectations of a 5.9 percent rise at the start of October, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Up 15 percent in 2017, the S&P 500 is trading at about 18 times expected earnings, according to Thomson Reuters Datastream.
Michael Kors
Advanced Micro Devices
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.41-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.17-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
About 6.6 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, above the 6.4 billion daily average over the last 20 sessions.
(Additional reporting by Tanya Agrawal; Editing by Dan Grebler and James Dalgleish)
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)