Stocks Finish Solidly Higher

Big oil names like Exxon Mobil and Chevron paced Monday's advance as crude shot past $70 per barrel. Trading was slow ahead of the July 4 holiday

U.S. stock indexes finished with solid gains Monday in slow end-of-quarter trading at the start of the shortened July 4 holiday week. Energy giants Exxon Mobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX) led blue-chips higher as crude oil futures surged to over $70 per barrel after Nigerian militants attacked a Royal Dutch oil field.

Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) was another blue-chip winner. Basic materials and industrial shares also rose.

On Monday, the 30-stock Dow Jones industrial average ended with a gain of 90.99 points, or 1.08%, to 8,529.38. The broad Standard & Poor's 500-stock index was higher by 8.33 points, or 0.91%, to 927.23. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index added 5.84 points, or 0.32%, to 1,844.06.

On the New York Stock Exchange, 18 stocks were higher in price for every 11 that declined. Breadth on the Nasdaq was 14-11 negative.

Some traders were engaged in end-of-quarter portfolio adjusting. U.S. financial markets are closed Friday for the July 4 holiday.

Treasuries were higher Monday following a week of rather successful auctions. The dollar index was little changed after a report that said China has ruled out a sudden change in its foreign-reserves policy. Gold futures were lower.

There were no significant economic reports released Monday. On Tuesday, the market will receive updates on the S&P/Case-Shiller house price index for April, along with the Conference Board's consumer confidence index and the Chicago purchasing managers' survey for June.

Wall Street's main focus this week will likely be Thursday's nonfarm payroll report for June, which economists expect to show a 400,000 decline. The unemployment rate is seen climbing to 9.7%. Initial jobless claims, also Thursday, are seen down 7,000.

Bernard Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison Monday, meaning he will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars after admitting in March to running one of the largest and longest financial frauds in recent memory. At a packed hearing, U.S. District Judge Denny Chin in Manhattan ordered Madoff, 71 years old, to serve the statutory maximum sentence in prison. Applause briefly broke out after the sentence was announced. Late Friday, Judge Chin signed a preliminary forfeiture order against Madoff for more than $170 billion, leaving the one-time chairman of the NASDAQ Stock Market penniless. "Here the message must be sent that Mr. Madoff's crimes were extraordinary evil," Judge Chin said.

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