The U.S. stock market feels as though it is made out of Teflon, with virtually nothing able to disrupt its climb to record levels. The broad S&P 500 index SPX, +0.51% which on Friday closed at a record for the 49th time this year at 2,575.21, has sailed through 350 trading days without a 3% pullback, rising weeks and months on end to a 15% gain since the start of the year. According to Bespoke Investment Group, "2017 is tied for the fifth most closing highs on record, dating back to 1929.

Asian stock markets, with the exception of South Korea and Hong Kong, are higher on Monday amid optimism that U.S. President Donald Trump's tax reforms are moving closer to execution, while the Japanese market surged after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's landslide victory in Sunday's elections.