U.S. stocks rallied on Monday after the United States and China put their trade differences "on hold" to work on a wider agreement, while sentiment was also boosted by the nearly $28 billion worth of merger deals. The truce sparked a broad rally, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average touching a session high of more than two months and the small-cap Russell 2000 hitting a record high for the fourth straight session. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Sunday the United States and China had agreed to drop their tariff threats, while China on Monday praised a significant dialing back of tensions. The S&P industrial sector advanced 0.8 percent. Boeing, which sells about a fourth of its commercial aircraft to Chinese customers, jumped 3.4 percent, the biggest percentage gainer on the Dow and lifting the blue-chip index higher. At 12:41 a.m. EDT the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 301.93 points, or 1.22 percent, at 25,017.02, the S&P 500 was up 20.44 points, or 0.75 percent, at 2,733.41 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 41.91 points, or 0.57 percent, at 7,396.25. General Electric advanced 2.6 percent on an $11.1 billion deal to merge its transportation business with rail equipment maker Wabtec, which jumped about 4.2 percent. The easing of the trade dispute also boosted the chipmakers, whose major clients include Chinese firms, with the Philadelphia chip index gaining 0.9 percent. The technology sector rose 0.8 percent. The S&P index recorded 32 new 52-week highs and 3 new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 149 new highs and 26 new lows.
