Stocks Open Higher Monday

NEW YORK (AP) -- Global markets are rising Monday morning, and gains for technology companies, banks and industrial firms have U.S. stocks on track for more record highs. Investors hoped trade tensions may be ebbing after media reports and President Donald Trump said the U.S. and Mexico are close to a trade deal.

KEEPING SCORE: The S&P 500 index climbed 18 points, or 0.6 percent, to 2,892 as of 10 a.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 208 points, or 0.8 percent, to 26,002. The Nasdaq composite gained 55 points, or 0.7 percent, to 8,001. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks added 9 points, or 0.5 percent, to1,735.

The S&P 500 closed at an all-time high Friday, beating the record it set in late January. The Nasdaq and Russell 2000 also set new highs, but the Dow remains about 2 percent below the record it set in late January.

TRADE TALKS: Over the last few days, media reports have suggested the U.S. and Mexico are getting closer to a trade deal. The Trump administration has been pushing to revise the North American Free Trade Agreement, and Trump said over the weekend and Monday morning that a deal is getting closer.

Automakers climbed as investors felt the threat of tariffs on imported cars was decreasing. GM gained 2.9 percent to $36.99 and Ford rose 2.3 percent to $9.90.

LEADERS: JPMorgan Chase advanced 1.2 percent to $116.22 and Goldman Sachs jumped 2.4 percent to $240.83 as financial companies rose. Among industrial firms, construction equipment maker Caterpillar added 2.3 percent to $141.45 and Boeing gained 1.3 percent to $353.88.

Companies likely to benefit from faster economic growth led the market. That also included technology companies. Facebook picked up 1.5 percent to $177.25 and Alphabet, Google's parent company, rose 0.8 percent to $1,246.61. Netflix rose 3.5 percent to $371.36.

TESLA'S LATEST TWIST: Tesla fell 1.6 percent to $317.59 after CEO and top shareholder Elon Musk said over the weekend that the electric car maker will remain a publicly traded company. Musk wrote in a Friday blog post that he gave up on a plan to take the company private, partly because investors didn't support it.

Wall Street was stunned early this month when Musk tweeted that he had secured funding to take Tesla private, and while its stock jumped initially, investors remained skeptical. Musk said his proposal valued Tesla at $420 a share and the stock peaked at about $380 a share, close to an all-time high for Tesla but still well below the price he named.

Since then the stock has tumbled as it became clear Musk hadn't lined up funding for the deal. Now reports say regulators are looking into Musk's tweets, including whether he described the potential deal accurately, among other issues for Tesla.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude rose 0.3 percent to $68.90 in the New York. Brent crude, which is used to price international oils, also added 0.4 percent to $76.10 a barrel in London.

OVERSEAS: Germany's DAX was up 0.7 percent while the CAC 40 in France was 0.7 percent higher. British markets were closed for a summer bank holiday.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index added 0.9 percent and South Korea's Kospi rose 0.3 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 2.2 percent.

BONDS: Bond prices slipped. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.84 percent from 2.82 percent.

CURRENCIES: The dollar fell to 111.04 yen from 111.20 yen. The euro rose to $1.1650 from $1.1625.

(BE)