(CNBC) — U.S. stocks climbed on Monday, with the Dow industrials back above 17,000 and posting an intraday record, as investors welcomed better-than-projected earnings from Citigroup and a bout of corporate takeovers.
"It's really been an S&P-type dominated market; the large U.S. stocks are where most investors are finding refuge. McDonald's, Altria, IBM, are not going out of business tomorrow, and investors feel comfortable in good times and bad hanging with those companies," said Paul Nolte, senior vice president, portfolio manager at Kingsview Asset management.
URS surged after Aecom Technology said it would pay about $4 billion to purchase the construction-management company. AbbVie declined after Shire said it was ready to recommend the company's latest offer to its shareholders. Mylan said it would purchase Abbott Laboratories' specialty and branded generics business outside the U.S. in a deal valued at about $5.3 billion. Apple rose after Barclays upgraded shares of the iPhone maker to overweight from equal weight.