Major U.S. stock-indexes were solidly higher on Monday, as the WSJ's report that the United States and China had quietly started negotiations to improve the U.S. access to Chinese markets eased concerns about a trade war between these two countries. Financials names and Microsoft's (MSFT; +5.4%) shares were among the major contributors to today's surge. On the contrary, Facebook (FB; -2.9%) continued to weight down, as the Federal Trade Commission confirmed that it had opened an investigation into the company's privacy practices.

Most of Dow stocks in positive area (25 of 30). Top gainer - Microsoft Corp. (MSFT, +5.41%). Top loser - General Electric Co. (GE, -1.91%).

All S&P sectors in positive area. Top gainer - Financials (+1.4%).

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