The main US stock indices grew moderately and reached record highs amid investors' optimism about the US tax reform, which, among other things, provides for the reduction of corporate income tax to 21% from 35% and introduces a new regime for paying taxes from foreign profits.

In addition, as it became known, the confidence of builders in the market of newly built houses for one family increased by five points to 74 in December, according to the housing market index (HMI) from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) / Wells Fargo after the revised downward November reading. This was the highest rate since July 1999. "Housing market conditions are partially improving because of a new policy aimed at providing regulatory assistance to the business community," said NAHB chairman Granger McDonald.

Oil prices have risen slightly, facilitated by a simple oil pipeline in the North Sea and a workers strike in the Nigerian energy sector. The reduction in the number of oil drilling rigs in the US also supported prices, but the increase in oil production in the US cast a shadow on the market.

Most components of the DOW index finished trading in positive territory (22 out of 30). The leader of growth was shares of Intel Corporation (INTC, + 3.31%). Outsider were the shares of The Coca-Cola Company (KO, -0.52%).

Almost all sectors of the S & P index recorded an increase. The commodities sector grew most (+ 1.2%). The decrease was shown only by the utilities sector (-0.7%).

At closing:

DJIA + 0.57% 24.792.20 +140.46

Nasdaq + 0.84% ​​6,994.76 +58.18

S & P + 0.54% 2,690.16 +14.35

U.S. stock-index futures were higher on Monday as optimism on Wall Street was fueled by the GOP's tax reform bill.

Global Stocks:

Nikkei 22,901.77 +348.55 +1.55%

Hang Seng 29,050.41 +202.30 +0.70%

Shanghai 3,268.33 +2.19 +0.07%

S&P/ASX 6,038.90 +41.90 +0.70%

FTSE 7,525.73 +35.16 +0.47%

CAC 5,416.24 +66.94 +1.25%

DAX 13,310.21 +206.65 +1.58%

Crude $57.67 (+0.65%)

Gold $1,260.40 (+0.23%)

(company / ticker / price / change ($/%) / volume)

Twitter (TWTR) initiated with a Buy at Summit Redstone

NIKE (NKE) target raised to $68 at Telsey Advisory Group

Twitter (TWTR) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan

Stocks across Europe ended mostly lower on Friday, as retail and bank shares slumped into negative territory, and yanked the regional benchmark lower for a third straight session.

All three main U.S. stock-market benchmarks closed at records on Friday and booked weekly gains, as investor expectations grew for passage of Republican-backed tax-cut legislation.

Most major Asian indexes on Monday were given a boost by investor optimism that a plan to reduce corporate taxes would be passed stateside. Japan's Nikkei 225 added 1.47 percent as trading houses and banks rose. Tech and automaker blue-chips also saw gains, while several construction names declined. Toyota rose 2.86 percent, Sony gained 2.88 percent and SoftBank climbed 1.75 percent.

(index / closing price / change items /% change)

Nikkei -141.23 22553.22 -0.62%

TOPIX -14.67 1793.47 -0.81%

Hang Seng -318.27 28848.11 -1.09%

CSI 300 -45.29 3980.86 -1.12%

Euro Stoxx 50 +4.31 3560.53 +0.12%

FTSE 100 +42.45 7490.57 +0.57%

DAX +35.48 13103.56 +0.27%

CAC 40 -7.84 5349.30 -0.15%

DJIA +143.08 24651.74 +0.58%

S&P 500 +23.80 2675.81 +0.90%

NASDAQ +80.06 6936.58 +1.17%

S&P/TSX +25.52 16041.98 +0.16%