NEW YORK: The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average opened flat on Monday after news of an explosion in New York's busy Port Authority commuter hub, while stocks rose around the world on continued solid global economic growth indicators.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 26.79 points, or 0.11 percent, to 24,355.95, the S&P 500 gained 3.91 points, or 0.15 percent, to 2,655.41 and the Nasdaq Composite added 18.88 points, or 0.28 percent, to 6,858.96.
"When you see one of these events in a major city, you get a little cautious tone. But it's never enough to really rout a stock market intraday," said Michael Antonelli, managing director, institutional sales trading at Robert W. Baird in Milwaukee.
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.34 percent.
"There's somewhat of an enthusiasm that global growth is more synchronized than it's been in a long time, and it's synchronized in the right direction," said Scott Wren, a senior global equity strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute in St. Louis, Missouri.
MSCI's emerging market stock index rose 0.89 percent. Its broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed 0.84 percent higher, while Japan's Nikkei rose 0.56 percent.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index lost 0.04 percent.
Interest in the surging bitcoin and the opening of futures trading continued to fuel bets on cryptocurrency-related stocks, many of which have risen exponentially in value in the past three months.
Bitcoin futures jumped more than 20 percent in the US debut on Sunday. The spot price quoted by Bitstamp showed one Bitcoin up 10.95 percent at $16,300.
TREASURY YIELDS FALL, DOLLAR DIPS
Most US Treasury yields also fell on Monday, with reports of the explosion in New York prompting safe-haven buying. However, price gains were capped as investors prepared for new supply.
Benchmark 10-year notes last rose 5/32 in price to yield 2.3671 percent, from 2.383 percent late on Friday.
The 30-year bond last rose 13/32 in price to yield 2.7553 percent, from 2.775 percent late on Friday.
Price gains were seen as limited before two debt auctions on Monday, with the Treasury Department due to sell $24 billion in three-year notes and $20 billion in 10-year notes.
The dollar weakened on Monday after tepid inflation data from a jobs report on Friday that showed still sluggish wage growth in November.
The Federal Reserve is widely expected to raise interest rates at a two-day policy meeting that ends on Wednesday. Investors will be watching for discussion around disappointing inflation for indications on how many more rate hikes are likely next year.
Ahead of a big week of policy meetings globally, the Fed is the only major central bank expected to raise rates. The Bank of England and the European Central Bank are widely seen holding rates steady.
Safe-haven currencies such as the Swiss franc and the Japanese yen gained following the New York explosion. Against the yen, the dollar fell 0.09 percent to 113.38 yen.
The dollar index fell 0.16 percent, with the euro up 0.33 percent to $1.1803.
Oil prices rose, reversing earlier losses, after the New York blast refocused the market on geopolitical risk.
Spot gold dropped 0.1 percent to $1,246.16 an ounce. US gold futures fell 0.03 percent to $1,248.00 an ounce.
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