US: Stocks rise, shrugging off Italian vote

[NEW YORK] Gains by petroleum-linked equities helped push US stocks higher early Monday as investors shrugged off an Italian referendum that adds uncertainty to eurozone politics.

Drilling company Transocean and oil producers Apache and ConocoPhillips all rose more than one per cent as oil prices continued to climb after last week's Opec agreement to cut output.

Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare said markets were taking a wait-and-see approach to the Italian vote - which rejected the proposed reforms and led to the resignation of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi - due to the market's resiliency in the face of earlier surprise votes in Britain and the US.

"Participants recognize that it has paid handsomely to trade against the grain of conventional wisdom highlighting the market risks associated with presumably adverse political outcomes," Mr O'Hare said.

Six minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.4 per cent to 19,246.39, above Thursday's record close.

The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.4 per cent to 2,200.66, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.4 per cent to 5,276.02.

AFP