China Lifts Stocks; Nasdaq On Track For Nine-Day Streak

Wall Street climbed steadily higher Monday morning and the Dow looked to land at fresh 2010 highs as the bulls cheered China's decision to hold interest rates at their current levels. Today's Markets As of 11:00 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 44.16 points, or 0.39%, to 11454.71, the Standard & Poor's 500 gained 5.65 points, 0.46%, to 1246.05 and the Nasdaq Composite jumped 7.37 points, or 0.28%, to 2644.92. The FOX 50 picked up 2.39 points, or 0.27%, to 890.71. The Chinese decision to hold interest rates steady despite inflation fears sent commodities like copper climbing and eased concerns about the global recovery. The early bullishness leaves the Nasdaq Composite on track for a ninth consecutive rally and the Dow in striking distance from its highest close since September 2008. The S&P 500 landed at fresh 2010 highs last week. Most of the Dow's 30 stocks advanced, led by Caterpillar CAT and Walt Disney DIS. The index's weakest links were Hewlett-Packard HPQ and Intel INTC. Continue reading the article.