The US markets ended marginally higher on Monday as traders went bargain hunting after the early weakness extended the sell-off seen last week. Further, some support also came in as renewed confidence in the strength of the US economy offset lingering worries over the US-China trade dispute. The Dow and the S&P 500 rebounded after hitting their lowest intraday levels in seven and eight months, respectively. However, traders remained on the sidelines amid a lack of major US economic data. The economic calendar remains relatively light throughout the week, although reports on producer and consumer price inflation, retail sales, and industrial production are likely to attract attention in the coming days. Meanwhile, investors were increasingly focusing on the December 18-19 Federal Reserve meeting, where the central bank is widely expected to raise interest rates.
On the economic front, a report released by the Federal Reserve on Friday showed a substantial increase in US consumer credit in the month of October. The report said consumer credit spiked by $25.4 billion in October after climbing by an upwardly revised $11.6 billion in September. Street had expected consumer credit to jump by $17.0 billion compared to the $10.9 billion increase originally reported for the previous month.
Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 34.31 points or 0.14 percent to 24423.26 and S&P 500 added 4.64 points or 0.18 percent to 2637.72 and Nasdaq was up by 51.27 points or 0.74 percent to 7020.52.
