Stocks Opened Higher, Oil Slumped

U.S. stocks opened higher on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumping more than 100 points shortly after the opening bell, undeterred by a weak reading on New York region manufacturing. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately jumped 170.82 points, or 0.96%, to 17,920.13. The S&P 500 gained 17.47 points or 0.85%, to 2,070.87. The Nasdaq Composite was up 34.08 points, or 0.70%, to 4,905.84.

Manufacturing activity growth in New York State slowed in March for a second month in a row as the pace of new orders contracted to its weakest level since November 2013, a New York Federal Reserve survey showed on Monday.

Industrial production rose a seasonally adjusted 0.1% in February, the Federal Reserve said Monday. The increase was smaller than expected. Economists polled by MarketWatch had forecast a 0.3% rise.

Oil slumped to the lowest price since March 2009 in New York on speculation that record U.S. supply may start to strain the country’s storage capacity. West Texas Intermediate for April delivery lost as much as 2.8 percent to $43.57 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, and was at $44.62 at 10:33 a.m. London time.

U.S. oil output could start to take a hit by late 2015, OPEC said on Monday, suggesting the exporter group will have to wait beyond its next meeting in June to see if the oil price collapse is beginning to dent the shale oil boom.

Blackstone is buying Chicago’s Willis Tower, once called the Sears Tower, from 233 South Wacker LLC for an undisclosed amount.The Willis Tower is 110-stories and the second-tallest office building in the U.S. It is the fifth-tallest office building in the world.