U.S. stocks closed higher Monday, continuing their record run as hopes that lawmakers would pass a budget added to the recent enthusiasm. In international economic news, Japanese stocks have outperformed this year as investors welcome Tokyo's efforts to stimulate economic growth. But shares in China ended lower, dragged down by concerns over Chinese manufacturing. In corporate news, shares of Dick's Sporting Goods fell more than 10 percent after the retailer reported earnings and sales that fell short of forecasts. The company also said it expected a sharp slowdown in same-store sales for the first quarter. Shares of BlackBerry rallied nearly 14 percent as enthusiasm over the upcoming debut of its latest Smartphone, the Z10, grew. AT&T said it would begin pre-orders on Tuesday. The dollar rose against the pound and the yen, but fell against the euro. Light sweet crude oil for April delivery gained 11 cents to $92.06 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures moved up $1.10 to $1,578.00 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 50.22, or 0.35 percent, to 14,447.29. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 5.04, or 0.32 percent, to 1,556.22. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index increased 8.50, or 0.26 percent, to 3,252.87.
