UKX FTSE 100 Index

By Caitlin Ostroff and Akane Otani 

U.S. stocks rose to records at the start of a holiday-shortened week, buoyed by a rally in shares of technology companies.

Stocks around the world got a boost after Chinese officials called for speeding up the introduction of penalties and punitive action for infringement of patents and copyrights in a document released Sunday.

The U.S. has indicated it wants clearer assurances that China will follow through on the commitments it has made on the issue, and on others such as agricultural purchases, before negotiators will travel to Beijing for a new round of talks.

The statement from China showed officials there are willing to make concessions and to "come to the table and keep talking," said Lewis Grant, a portfolio manager at Hermès Investment Management.

That is a good sign for riskier assets like stocks, which have swung throughout the year on uncertainty about the U.S. and China's trade negotiations.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 190.85 points, or 0.7%, to 28066.47. The S&P 500 added 23.35 points, or 0.8%, to 3133.64 and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 112.60 points, or 1.3%, to 8632.49.

All three indexes set fresh closing highs.

Barring any unexpected news, traders expect the week to be relatively quiet: The stock and bond markets will be closed Thursday in observance of Thanksgiving Day and then shut early Friday.

Shares of technology companies were among the biggest gainers in the U.S. on Monday, with Advanced Micro Devices rising 64 cents, or 1.6%, to $39.79 and Nvidia adding $10.32, or 4.9%, to $221.21.

The semiconductor firms' shares have often fallen when investors have gotten more nervous about U.S.-China trade tensions and rebounded on signs of progress between Beijing and Washington.

A flurry of deal-making activity also drove swings among individual stocks Monday.

Tiffany shares added $7.74, or 6.2%, to $133.25 after LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton said it reached an agreement to buy the U.S. jeweler for more than $16 billion. LVMH shares gained 2% in Paris.

Charles Schwab rose $1.11, or 2.3%, to $49.31 after it agreed to buy smaller rival TD Ameritrade Holding in a stock-swap transaction valued at about $26 billion. TD Ameritrade shares climbed $3.65, or 7.6%, to $51.78.

EBay shares jumped 73 cents, or 2.1%, to $35.85 after the e-commerce company said it agreed to sell its StubHub ticketing business to a Switzerland-based firm, Viagogo.

In the U.K., the pound rose 0.6% against the U.S. dollar as the Conservative Party maintained a lead in weekend opinion polls after unveiling its manifesto for the Dec. 12 general elections. Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Sunday made a series of spending pledges and ruled out increases in income tax. The FTSE 100 index advanced 0.9%.

The market is starting to anticipate that the Conservative Party, which has avoided taking any extreme positions in its manifesto, will win a majority in the elections, Hermès Investment Management's Mr. Grant said.

The pan-continental Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 1%, led by gains in the basic resources and travel and leisure sectors.

Write to Caitlin Ostroff at caitlin.ostroff@wsj.com and Akane Otani at akane.otani@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 25, 2019 16:40 ET (21:40 GMT)

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