Investing.com – The Dow rallied into triple digits while the Nasdaq inched down on Monday after the Senate passed its version of the tax-reform bill in the early hours of Saturday.
The S&P 500 rose 18 points or 0.70 % as of 10:10 AM ET (3:10 PM GMT) while the Dow composite was in the triple digits, at 298 points or 1.23%t. Tech heavy NASDAQ Composite fell two points or 0.04%.
Investors are optimistic after the Senate passed the tax bill with 51 to 49 in favor. Congress still faces obstacles before the bill can become law and now must create a joint House and Senate bill, which will then be sent to President Donald Trump. Republican leaders are hoping to have the bill passed before Christmas.
Health insurer Aetna (NYSE:AET) shares surged 1.01% after the morning bell amid news that drugstore chain CVS Health Corp (NYSE:CVS) was buying the firm for $69 billion. CVS fell 4.10% after the announcements of what will be the biggest acquisition of 2017.
Blue Apron Holdings Inc (NYSE:APRN) skyrocketed 25.52% after Barclay’s upgraded the meal-kit company’s shares to “equal-weight.” Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) rose 3.55% while courier FedEx (NYSE:FDX) increased 2.97% and Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) was up 3.68%.
Elsewhere payment processor Square Inc (NYSE:SQ) fell 3.42% while Chinese e-commerce firm Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) decreased 2.1% and semiconductor Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:AMD) slumped 6.71%. Credit card firm Visa Inc (NYSE:V) was down 1.04% after it fired an executive who handled it’s Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Paypal partnerships for violating company policy. PayPal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PYPL) eased 2.84%.
Meanwhile in Europe stocks rallied. In Germany the DAX surged 219 points or 1.70% while France’s CAC 40 was up 75 points or 1.43% and in London the FTSE 100 rose 34 points or 0.47%. Meanwhile Spain’s IBEX 35 increased 132 points or 1.31% and the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 rallied 49 points or 1.39 %.
In commodities, gold futures fell 0.43% to $1,276.80 a troy ounce while crude oil futures slumped 1.34% to 57.58 a barrel. The U.S dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, rallied 0.41% to 93.19.