According to Bloomberg, investors reacted with confidence to data that signals growth in the U.S. services sectors and consumer confidence, as well as the Chinese central bank’s move last week to cut interest rates.
Bloomberg also estimates that profit for S&P 500 companies could rise 7.6 percent this year and reports that stock valuations have reached the highest point since the end of 2009.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.04 percent to close at 17, 817.90, the S&P 500 composite index increased 0.28 percent to 2, 069.20 and the NASDAQ composite index climbed 0.86 percent to close at 4, 753.60.
Top Percentage Gainers
Company | Stock Price | $ Change | % Change |
 Engility Holdings |  43.38 |  0.99 |  2.34% |
 McKesson |  209.72 |  4.55 |  2.22% |
 Healthnet |  51.57 |  0.94 |  1.86% |
 ICF International |  37.52 |  0.66 |  1.79% |
 Computer Sciences Corp. |  63.45 |  0.97 |  1.55% |
Market Summary
Advancing Issues | 24 (80.00%) |
Declining Issues | 6Â (20.00%) |
Unchanged Issues | 0Â (0.00%) |
The Executive Mosaic GovCon Index is a composite index that tracks 30 of the largest publicly-traded Government Contracting (GovCon) firms.