Consumer spending drives US share gains

Clothing chains and other retailers drove US stock market gains in early trade on Monday, amid signs of strong holiday sales.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 31 points to 23,590.97, while the S&P 500 added 3.7 points to 2,606.

The Nasdaq index added 3.1 points or 0.05% to 6,892.3.

Among the retailers, Gap, L Brands, and Amazon saw some of the steepest gains, with shares in Gap and L Brands each up more than 3%.
Shares in Western Digital, a hardware maker, saw one of the steepest declines, down more than 7%, after Morgan Stanley cut its rating on the stock to “equal-weight”.

Hess Corp and Marathon Oil Corp were down about 2%. Oil prices dipped slightly, with US oil falling back from two-year highs.