U.S. stocks finished higher on Monday, following a solid U.S. consumer spending report and relief that Hurricane Irene caused less damage than expected. In world markets, European stocks ended higher, led by the DAX in Germany rising 2.4 percent. Asian markets ended mixed, as the Shanghai Composite lost 1.4 percent and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong rose 1.4 percent. The U.S. dollar fell versus the euro but rose versus the yen. Light sweet crude oil for October delivery rose $2 to $87.37 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures fell $6.60 to $1,790.70 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 254.71, or 2.3 percent, to 11,539.25. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 33.28, or 2.8 percent, to 1,210.08. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 82.26, or 3.3 percent, to 2,562.11.
