Investing.com - U.S. stocks rose on Monday, buoyed by U.S. data and first-quarter earnings.
At the close of U.S. trading, the Dow 30 rose 0.25%, the S&P 500 index rose 0.38%, while the Nasdaq index rose 0.64%.
Stocks continued to applaud earnings released by Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C), General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) and Yahoo! Inc (NASDAQ:YHOO) last week, among others, which gave equities indices a boost on Monday.
On Monday, energy services firm Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) released earnings that beat expectations, while Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) shares rose after Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS)reiterated a buy recommendation.
Stocks also rose in anticipation of Netflix earnings, which beat expectations after markets closed.
After the closing bell, moving-streaming company Netflix reported earnings of $0.86 cents a share on revenue of $1.27 billion.
Analysts had expected the company to report earnings $0.83 cents a share on $1.27 billion in sales.
Better-than-expected U.S. data also gave stocks a boost.
In the U.S. earlier, the Conference Board reported that its index of leading indicators, which measures future economic activity, increased 0.8% in March after a 0.5% rise in February, beating expectations for a 0.7% reading.
Elsewhere, the Chicago Fed National Activity Index decreased to 0.20 in March from 0.53 in February, in line with expectations.
Leading Dow Jones Industrial Average performers included Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE), up 2.00%, Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK), up 1.35%, and International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM), up 1.20%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average's worst performers included Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS), down 1.12%, UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), down 1.11%, and McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD), down 0.63%.
European indices, meanwhile, were closed due to the Easter holiday.
On Tuesday, the U.S. is to release private sector data on existing home sales.