Dow, S&P 500 Ended at Record Highs

U.S. stocks closed higher on Monday, with Dow and S&P 500 ending at record highs, as investors continued to cheer easy-money policies globally. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 7.84 points, or 0.04%, to 17817.90. The S&P 500 gained 5.91 points, or 0.29%, to 2069.41.The Nasdaq Composite added 41.92 points, or 0.89%, to 4754.89.

A rule that some U.S. lawmakers want the Federal Reserve to follow when setting monetary policy is now giving conflicting signals on where interest rates should be, a San Francisco Fed study published on Monday showed.

HealthSouth Corp. has agreed to buy privately held EHHI Holdings Inc., the owner of Encompass Home Health and Hospice, for about $750 million.

Brocade Communications (BRCD) reported a fiscal fourth-quarter profit of $83.4 million, or 19 cents a share, up from $64.2 million, or 14 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Sales rose 1% from last year to $564 million.

United Technologies (UTX) Corp.’s surprise announcement that Chief Executive Officer Louis Chenevert has stepped down
comes as the company struggles to boost growth in several key units.