Technology firms help boost stocks

Strong gains for technology companies helped lead U.S. stocks higher Monday. Defense contractors also climbed as the market continued to bounce back from a bout of turbulence last week.

Aerospace and defense companies rose after President Trump presided over a huge sale of military equipment to Saudi Arabia. Amazon led consumer-focused companies higher. Energy firms lagged even though oil prices continued their climb.

Tech firms are closing in on all-time highs. The tech component of the Standard & Poor’s 500 index has soared 18% this year, almost three times as much as the overall S&P 500. On Monday, Qualcomm rose 2.8% to $59.28. Cisco Systems rose 1.2% to $31.59. Adobe Systems rose 1.8% to $138.85. Autodesk rose 3.1% to $113.36.

Aerospace and defense companies climbed after Trump presided over a $110billion sale of military equipment to Saudi Arabia. The agreement could expand to $350 billion over 10 years. Lockheed Martin climbed 1.6% to $277.03 and Boeing went up 1.6% to $183.67.

Amgen and its partner UCB said women who took their experimental osteoporosis drug Evenity were more likely to have serious cardiovascular problems than patients who took Fosamax, an older drug. The companies said that was a new safety concern and they no longer expect the Food and Drug Administration to approve Evenity this year. Amgen fell 2.2% to $153.02.

Ford rose 2.1% to $11.10 after the automaker replaced its chief executive. The stock is down 8.5% this year.

U.S-based Huntsman and Swiss specialty chemicals maker Clariant are merging. Clariant shareholders will own 52% of the combined firm, named HuntsmanClariant. Huntsman slid 2.1% to $26.15. Clariant rose 3.4% in Switzerland.

Nutraceutical International leaped 50.5% to $42.15 after the supplements company agreed to be bought by private equity firm HGGC for $41.80 a share in cash.

Benchmark U.S. crude oil rose 40 cents to $50.73 a barrel. Brent crude rose 26 cents to $53.87 a barrel. Wholesale gasoline rose 1 cent to $1.66 a gallon. Heating oil rose 2 cents to $1.60 a gallon. Natural gas climbed 7 cents to $3.33 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Gold rose $7.80 to $1,261.40 an ounce. Silver jumped 40 cents to $17.19 an ounce. Copper rose 1 cent to $2.60 a pound.

Bond prices moved a bit lower. The yield on the 10year Treasury note inched up to 2.25% from 2.24%.

The dollar fell to 111.20 yen from 111.38 yen. The euro rose to $1.1234 from $1.1207.