Investing.com -- The NASDAQ Composite index cracked the 5,000 barrier for the first time in 15 years, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average reached a record-high Monday, on the first day of trading for the month of March.
Led by gains in technology and consumer discretionary sectors, stocks were up broadly on U.S. equities markets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.86% or 155.93 to 18,288.63, while the S&P 500 rose 0.61% or 12.89 to 2,117.39.
The NASDAQ Composite index reached the 5,000 mark in morning trading, before closing at 5,008.10 -- marking only the third time the index has closed above 5,000 ever. The NASDAQ gained 44.57 or 0.90% on the day.
Large yearly increases among a number of technology stocks have spurred the gains since the start of the new year. Over the last 52-weeks, consumer electronics giant Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), analog electronics company Avago Technologies Limited (NASDAQ:AVGO) and video game publisher and distributor Electronic Arts Inc (NASDAQ:EA). have all recorded gains of at least 70 percent. Apple, in particular, has been responsible for driving up growth. While the NASDAQ 100 Inflation Adjusted Chart has increased approximately 5.6% annually, the NASDAQ 100 is up only 2.8% discounting the gains factored in from Apple.
Also on Monday, NXP Semiconductors NV (NASDAQ:NXPI) went up by more than 15%, as news broke of the Dutch company's acquisition of Austin-based Freescale Semiconductor Ltd (NYSE:FSL), a former spin-off of Motorola (NYSE:MSI). NXP Semiconductors NV, which finished as the biggest gainer on the NASDAQ Composite index on Monday, gained 14.67 points or 17.27% to 99.56. The new company has been valued at more than $40 billion combined.
The worst performer on the NASDAQ Composite index, meanwhile, was Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ:CELG), which fell 0.85% or 1.03 to 120.50.
On the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the biggest performer was Visa Inc (NYSE:V), which rose 2.49% or 6.75 to 278.06, after Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) announced a deal that will replace American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) with Visa and Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C) as its exclusive credit card provider. International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) was the worst performer, falling 0.94% or 1.52 to 160.42.
The biggest performer on the S&P 500 index was GameStop Corp (NYSE:GME), which rose 4.60% or 1.7 points to 38.67. The worst performer on Monday was Genworth Financial Inc. (NYSE:GNW), which dropped 5.42% or 0.42 points to 7.33, after the company admitted in regulatory filings of suffering additional losses of $44 million from a calculating error.
Also on Monday, Lumber Liquidators Holdings Inc (NYSE:LL), a Virginia-based retailer of hardwood flooring, dropped sharply after the airing of an investigative report Sunday night on the CBS News magazine 60 Minutes. The report alleged that Lumber Liquidators purchased wholesale amounts of laminated wood flooring containing dangerous levels of formaldehyde from several of its Chinese suppliers, according to 60 Minutes. In response, Lumber Liquidators criticized CBS News for what it described as using "an improper test method" in its reporting, that is not included in California law requirements.
Lumber Liquidators fell 25.13% or 13.03 points to 38.83.