Wall Street Closes Higher for Sixth Consecutive Day

Wall Street Closes Higher for Sixth Consecutive DayOn Monday, Wall Street closed at its highest level recorded during the year, making it the sixth consecutive day for the markets to record a rise and close at their highest yearly values. Although a slight dip was recorded when the trading started, by Monday evening, the shares had turned around, mostly on the back of growing holiday sales, rising commodities prices and signs of growth across Asian markets.

At close on Monday, the Dow Jones industrial average had surged by 26.98 points, or 0.26%, to a new high of 10,547.08. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index, on the other hand, had hiked by 1.30 points, or 0.12%, to 1,127.78. The country's technology dominated market, NASDAQ, also bagged its fair share of hikes and surged by 5.39 points, or 0.24%, to 2,291.08.

"We're not seeing the end-of-the-world situation that was with us last year. The holiday sales numbers give investors reason to think that maybe things are not getting worse. The question now is, `Are things actually getting better?", said Bill Schultz, Chief Investment Officer for McQueen, Ball & Associates.

The few setbacks suffered in the otherwise successful market were mainly by financial shares, specifically banks, but major US banks like Citigroup and Bank of America turned otherwise and recorded gains.