Stocks Rallied to Close Higher

U.S. stocks rallied to close higher on Monday, as optimism over U.S.-China trade talks helped the market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 265.06 points, or 1.15%, to 23,327.46. The S&P 500 gained 21.11 points, or 0.85%, to 2,506.85. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 50.76 points, or 0.77%, to 6,635.28.

Oil futures on Monday managed a slight gain in the final trading day of a volatile 2018 that finds energy benchmarks down sharply from their highs of the year. West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery picked up 8 cents, or 0.2%, to $45.41 a barrel. March Brent crude gained 59 cents, or 1.1%, at $53.80 a barrel.