NEW YORK, Oct. 20 (UPI) -- Stock prices closed higher Monday as Wall Street investors tilted in favor of some of the better-than-expected earnings reports than negative economic news.
The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average closed up 56.15 points, or 0.58 percent, to 9,777.94 on a trading volume of 1.36 billion shares. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 12.79 points, or 0.67 percent, to 1,925.14 on a volume of 1.48 billion shares. The Standard and Poor's 500-stock index gained 5.36 percent, or 0.52 percent, to 1,044.68.
Among those reporting strong earnings were 3M, Citigroup, Southwest Airlines, Continental Airlines and Northwest Airlines, European drug maker Novartis, and printer maker Lexmark International.
In economic news, the Conference Board said its index of leading indicators fell 0.2 percent in September, a bigger decline than the 0.1 percent that experts had expected. The index helps forecast economic activity.
The dollar closed stronger. It traded at 110.435 Japanese yen, up from 109.40 late Friday. The euro slipped against the dollar to $1.1632 from $1.1675.
Gold for December delivery climbed $2.20 to close at $374.40 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
