Tech rally leads US stocks higher

NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks finished higher Monday with technology shares leading the market and oil-linked shares gyrating ahead of a key US announcement on Iran sanctions.

The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.8 percent to close the session at 7,265.22.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4 percent to end at 24,357.32, and the broad-based S&P 500 also climbed 0.4 percent to 2,672.63.

Large technology shares enjoyed a buoyant session with Apple gaining 0.7 percent after Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger effused about the company after disclosing last week they bought an additional 75 million shares.

"I think we've been a little too restrained," Munger told CNBC. "I wish we owned more of it."

The Berkshire executives also said they wished they had bought Amazon and Google. Shares of Amazon and Google-parent Alphabet also rose.

US stocks were in positive territory the whole session, continuing the upbeat momentum from Friday when a mixed US jobs report was seen as reducing the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will accelerate interest rate hikes.

Petroleum-linked shares, which had been strong early in the session, finished mixed after President Donald Trump said he would announce a stance on the Iran nuclear deal on Tuesday before the market closes.

Oil prices finished at three and a half year high on speculation Trump would exit the deal, but the commodity later pulled back in after-hours trading.

Consumer staples shares were weak, with Walmart shedding 2.4 percent, CVS health 2.1 percent and Costco Wholesale 1.1 percent.

Gramercy Property Trust jumped 15.5 percent after sealing a deal to be acquired by Blackstone for $7.6 billion. Blackstone rose 0.3 percent.

Athenahealth surged 16.4 percent after hedge fund Elliott Management announced a bid to acquire the company for $6.9 billion.