Wall Street added to gains on Monday while oil and government bond prices fell on the view that this weekend’s US-led missile strikes on Syria were unlikely to mark the start of a broader conflict, according Reuters.
Saturday’s strikes were the biggest intervention by Western countries against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his ally Russia, which is facing further economic sanctions over its role in the conflict.
“There is a feeling (in the market) that there will be no follow-up action,” Rabobank fixed income analyst Lyn Graham-Taylor said.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 245.75 points, or 1.01 percent, to 24,605.89, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 25.42 points, or 0.96 percent, to 2,681.72 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 59.34 points, or 0.83 percent, to 7,165.99.
“The action was well-received ... and that’s giving a chance for investors to focus on macro news and earnings,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York.
Healthcare shares .SPXHC also rose after positive updates on a cancer drug from Merck (MRK.N), whose shares were up 2.4 percent.
Hopes that the strike against Syria would not escalate further also spurred investors to shed the US dollar.
The dollar index .DXY fell 0.4 percent, with the euro EUR= rose 0.41 percent to $1.2379.
European shares eased, adding to a mixed picture from lower Asian stock markets and suggesting that a degree of caution prevails.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 lost 0.46 percent. MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS, which tracks shares in 47 countries, gained 0.49 percent, though emerging market stocks dipped 0.50 percent.
The yields on German DE10YT=RR and 10-year US government bonds, among the most liquid and safe assets in the world, were the highest in nearly two weeks and four weeks, respectively.
That was partly as attention turned to what is expected to be a robust first-quarter US corporate earnings season, which begins in earnest this week.
Benchmark 10-year notes US10YT=RR were last down 2/32 in price to yield 2.834 percent, compared with 2.828 percent late on Friday.
The 30-year bond US30YT=RR was higher, however, rising 2/32 in price to yield 3.0327 percent, from 3.036 percent.
Some other traditional safe-haven bets held firmer, with gold XAU= and Japan's yen JPY= edging higher.
Dealers were keeping a wary eye on Japanese politics after a survey showed support for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had fallen to 26.7 percent, the lowest since he took office in late 2012.
Meanwhile, oil prices were lower. Brent crude LCOcv1 was last at $71.39, down 1.64 percent on the day, with a rise in US drilling for new production dragging on prices.
US crude oil futures CLcv1 settled at $66.22 per barrel, down 1.74 percent, or $1.17.