Oil Rally Helps Wall Street Post Solid Gains - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - Stocks overcame early weakness on Monday to finish the session with strong gains. A rise in crude oil prices helped drive gains in energy stocks and gave a boost to the whole market.

The S&P 500 gained 13.66 points, or 0.66%, to close at 2,080.62. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 117.61 points, or 0.66%, to 17,880.85. The Nasdaq gained 30.38 points, or 0.62%, to 4,917.32.

The major averages lost ground at the start of the session as traders reacted to last week's disappointing jobs data. The U.S. market was closed on Friday for a holiday, but the government released employment figures for March that came in below what economists were projecting.

Following the initial dip, however, stocks quickly reversed course and built strength through the morning and into the early afternoon. The major averages leveled off in the final hours of trading and finished just off their highs on the day.

U.S. crude oil surged to end at a one-month high on Monday. The advance came as investors saw no immediate oversupply threats, betting that it could take several months for Iran to ramp up crude oil production for export following a deal with western powers over its nuclear program.

Light Sweet Crude Oil futures for May delivery, the most actively traded contract, soared $3.00, or 6.1 percent, to settle at $52.14 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange

In sending stocks higher, traders shrugged off a slightly disappointing report on the health of the country's services sector.

A closely-watched report issued by the Institute for Supply Management showed a slowdown in the growth of the country's non-manufacturing segment. But the moderation in expansion was slight and the report showed improved growth in new orders and in employment.

The ISM index of non-manufacturing activity came in at 56.5 for March. This was down from the level of 56.9 seen in the previous month. Any reading above 50 indicates expansion in the sector.

Looking to corporate news, shares of Tesla rallied on first-quarter delivery data. The electric car maker announced over the long weekend that it delivered 10,030 cars in the first quarter of 2015. This was a 55% improvement from last year and represented a new company record for the most deliveries in a quarter.

Tesla's stock rose more than 6 percent on the news, rising $12.10 to $203.10.

A couple of IPO filings made headlines as well.

High frequency trading firm Virtu Financial said in a regulatory filing that it plans to offer about 16.5 million shares of stock at $17 to $19 per share. At the upper end of that valuation range, the company would raise about $314 million, valuing the company at about $2.6 billion.

Meanwhile, party supply retailer Party City said it would like to sell about 21.9 million shares of stock at $15 to $17 per share. This would raise up to about $428 million and give the company a market value of about $2 billion.