US stocks add to records in tax cut glee

NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks added to records early Monday amid anticipation that a long-awaited US tax cut proposal was on the cusp of becoming law.

Republican leaders expressed confidence over the weekend that they have locked up the votes to secure final passage of the massive tax bill, which has been Wall Street's biggest priority for Washington.

About 10 minutes into trading the Dow Jones Industrial Average had risen to 24,856.19, up 0.8 percent.

The broad-based S&P 500 rose 0.7 percent to 2,694.20, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.7 percent to 6,985.46.

All three indices ended at records Friday after holdout Republican senators signaled support for the tax cut, which is expected to be signed into law by President Donald Trump before the end of the year.

Analysts also cited a number of mergers that were lending additional upward pressure to stocks, including Hershey's $1.6 billion takeover of Amplify Snack Brands, and Campbell Soup's purchase of snack company Snyder's-Lance for $4.9 billion.

Freight rail company CSX was down 1.1 percent after announcing that chief executive E. Hunter Harrison died over the weekend. Chief operating officer Jim Foote will serve as acting CEO, the company said.