Stocks rallied on Monday, with the Dow rising 180 points after a five-day losing streak, as voting in Crimea passed without violence and after economic reports showed U.S. manufacturing output jumping the most in six months in February.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed unofficially 181.55, or 1.13 percent higher at 16,247,22. The S&P 500 rose 17 points to 1,858.83 and the Nasdaq added 34 points, to finish at 4,279.95.
"We've gotten used to markets that are going to price in the worst-case scenario," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities, of the possibility of violence or military conflict during the weekend as voters in Crimea chose overwhelmingly for annexation from Ukraine in favor of Russia.
As it was, the markets responded to positive news from the Federal Reserve, which reported that U.S. manufacturing output rebounded more than expected in February and recorded its largest increase in six months.
Factory production increased 0.8 percent last month, its largest increase since August, the Fed said. That almost unwound January's 0.9 percent decline, which was the largest drop since May 2009 and was better than the 0.2 percent rise anticipated by economists polled by Reuters.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude-oil futures for April delivery dropped 81 cents to $98.08 a barrel, while gold futures for April delivery declined $6.10, to settle at $1,372.90 an ounce.
The dollar declined against major U.S. trading partners, while the 10-year Treasury yield gained 4 basis points to 2.694 percent.
