US stocks close higher on tech boost

New York, July 2 (IANS) US stocks ended higher, led by gains in technology shares.The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 117.47 points, or 0.44 per cent, to 26,717.43 on Monday. The S&P 500 increased 22.57 points, or 0.77 per cent, to 2,964.33. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 84.92 points, or 1.06 per cent, to 8,091.16, Xinhua reported.Shares of major US tech giants, including Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google-parent Alphabet, all rose at least 1.5 per cent at market closing.Chipmaker stocks rose broadly. VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF (SMH), which tracks the overall performances of major U.S. exchange-listed companies in the semiconductor industry, climbed 2.82 per cent.Of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors, technology rose 1.45 per cent, the best-performing group. Real estate and utilities, however, struggled.On the economic front, a latest report released by the Institute for Supply Management showed that the U.S. manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) registered 51.7 per cent in June, a decrease of 0.4 percentage point from the May reading of 52.1 per cent. The rate marked the slowest pace since October 2016.
--IANS vin/