Stocks rise on retail, tech

Drugmakers struggled after new estimate on the costs of opioid addiction.

NEW YORK» U.S. stocks rose Monday as a mix of smaller, U.S.-focused companies, technology firms and banks climbed. Drugmakers struggled, which limited those gains.

Retailers and smaller companies rose for the third day in a row as their latest quarterly re- ports have investors feeling better about the U.S. economy and the amount of shopping people are likely to do over the holidays. Technology companies rose following another deal between chipmakers, and industrial companies also posted gains.

Companies that sell opioid pain medications tumbled after the government released a new, much higher estimate of the costs of the ongoing addiction crisis. Merck fell after a good report from competitor Roche about a drug that competes with Merck’s cancer medication Keytruda.

Trading was relatively light. That’s probably going to be the case throughout the week as the Thanksgiving holiday approaches and investors turn their attention to 2018. Jeff Kravetz, regional investment strategist for U.S. Bank Private Wealth Management, expects more gains for U.S. stocks, but thinks indexes in other parts of the world will do better, as they’ve done this year.

“We’ve got developed markets working and we’ve got emerging markets working,” he said. “This is just a wonderful year for international markets after a bit of a drought.”

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index picked up 3.29 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,582.14. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 72.09 points, or 0.3 percent, to 23,430.33. The Nasdaq composite advanced 7.92 points, or 0.1 percent, to 6,790.71. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks climbed 10.57 points, or 0.7 percent, to 1,503.40.

46 cents to $56.09 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, which is used to price international oils, dropped 50 cents to $62.22 a barrel in London.