Stocks Open Higher as Citi Rallies

U.S. stocks gained, pushing the Dow Jones Industrial Average above 17,000 on Monday as investors welcomed better-than-expected earnings from Citigroup Inc. and a flurry of mergers and acquisitions. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately added 138.83 points, or 0.82%, to 17,082.64. The S&P 500 was up 2.83 points, or 0.14%, to 1,967.51. The Nasdaq Composite gained 25.32 points, or 0.57%, to 4,440.81.

Citigroup’s second-quarter earnings and revenue beat estimates. For the quarter, Citigroup reported a profit of $181 million, or three cents a share, compared with a profit of $4.18 billion, or $1.34 a share, for the year-earlier quarter. Revenue fell 5.6% to $19.34 billion. Also Citigroup Inc. struck a $7 billion deal to settle allegations it sold shoddy mortgages in the run-up to the financial crisis.

Alcoa Inc. Monday signed a $1.1 billion deal to provide engine parts to United Technologies Corp.’s Pratt & Whitney unit as the aluminum company deepens its bet on aerospace sales growth.

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) said it would sell a portion of its generics pharmaceuticals business to Mylan Inc. (MYL) in an all-stock transaction valued at $5.3 billion that is the latest example of a health-care deal driven in part to seek tax advantages.