US stocks open stronger, continuing rally

NEW YORK: Wall Street opened higher after the long holiday weekend on Monday, extending last week's rally that was fueled by positive economic signs despite the coronavirus pandemic.

About 15 minutes into the trading session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.4 percent to 26,201.01.

The tech-rich Nasdaq, coming off a record-setting Thursday close, climbed 1.6 percent to 10,367.20, while the broad-based S&P 500 rose 1.3 percent to 3,172.93.

Markets have shrugged off worrying news about the spike in COVID-19 cases around the country, which has led local authorities to return to more strict controls including requiring masks and obliging some businesses to close down once again.

Investors however also had some big deals to justify their optimism.

Uber said Monday it was buying delivery startup Postmates for $2.65 billion in stock, in a move shaking up the sector, which has seen surging growth during the pandemic.

And a unit of billionaire Warren Buffet's giant holding Berkshire Hathaway plans to acquire much of Dominion Energy's natural gas assets for $4 billion in cash in addition to debt.

Uber rose more than four percent, and Berkshire gained 1.8 percent while Dominion fell four percent.

The lone economic report due out in a very thin week for data after last week's flurry is the ISM non-manufacturing index on Monday.

That measures the state of the massive services sector, which has been hard hit by the pandemic shutdowns.