Nasdaq Crosses 7000 as Stocks Blast to Fresh Record Highs on Tax Plan Hopes

Stocks on Wall Street hit intraday record highs on Monday, Dec. 18, as investors prepped for passage of a U.S. tax reform bill that is expected to boost corporate profits and increase share buybacks.

The Dow gained 187 points or 0.8% on Monday, the S&P 500 rose 0.7%, and the Nasdaq jumped 0.9% to above 7,000 for the first time ever as Wall Street anticipated a vote on Capitol Hill this week that could put the proposed $1.5 trillion tax cut into law by the end of the year.

The Dow -- at 24,838 -- has risen more than 5,000 points in 2017. DowDupont Inc. (DWDP) and Intel Corp. (INTC) were the leading gainers on the blue-chip index.

European markets also were seeing strong gains. In Asia, the Nikkei 225 in Japan rose 1.55% and the region-wide MSCI ex-Japan index gained 0.42% despite weakness in China markets owning to another push to curb speculation by the country's regulators.

Global oil prices edged higher again Monday as traders continued to factor in both the shutdown of the Forties North Sea pipeline system and a surprise reduction in the number of U.S drilling installations, which fell for the first time in six weeks last week.

Futures for Brent crude, the global benchmark, rose 0.3% to $63.42 a barrel while West Texas Intermediate crude gained 0.5% to $57.59.

Hershey Co. (HSY) reached a deal to acquire Amplify Snack Brands Inc. (BETR) , the maker of SkinnyPop, for $12 a share, or a total of $1.6 billion including debt.

The price of $12 a share values Amplify at a 71% premium to its closing price of $7 on Friday, Dec. 15. Amplify jumped more than 70% in trading Monday to $11.94.

CSX Corp. (CSX) shares rose 0.2% on Monday, reversing earlier losses, following the sudden death of CEO Hunter Harrison and questions over the fate of the freight company's multi-billion turnaround strategy.

Harrison, 73, had taken a medical leave of absence from the company last week but died Saturday "due to unexpectedly severe complications from a recent illness," the company said in a statement. "Calling Harrison a "larger-than-life" figure, CSX Chairman Edward Kelly vowed to "continue to consider in a deliberative way how best to maximize CSX's performance over the long term."

Twitter Inc. (TWTR) shares gained 8.1% to $24.04 as the social media group begins to enforce rules that will crack down on extremist content and possibly smooth the path for renewed takeover interest in the microblogging platform. The stock also appeared to be a getting a bump from a Monday upgrade by JPMorgan Chase, which raised its price target on the company to $27 from $20 and shifted it recommendation to "overweight."

Snyder's-Lance Inc. (LNCE) jumped 6.6% on Monday to $49.90 after Campbell Soup Co. (CPB) reached a deal to buy the pretzel and chips maker for $50 a share, or $4.87 billion.

Shares of Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) slipped 0.5% despite the stock being initiated with a buy rating at BTIG.

Shares of Walt Disney Co. (DIS) slipped 0.2% on Monday as sentiment was dented following the announcement that ESPN President John Skipper had resigned because of what he called a "substance addiction."

Bitcoin prices began to converge slowly on Monday as the launch of a second futures contract linked to the cryptocurrency looks to have smoothed some of the gaps around global trading benchmarks as regulators set their sights on the $500 billion market.

The CME Group's debut of its 5-to-1 bitcoin futures contract, which is linked to a reference rate taken from a range of cryptocurrency exchanges, appears to have brought some level of convergence to the market, with its front-month product trading at $19,025 against a $18,930 price quoted for the similar week-old contact trading on the Cboe.

Spot bitcoin prices, which denote immediate purchases of the digital currency, were quoted at around $18,747 on the bitstamp trading platform, one of the main exchanges that feeds prices into the CME Group's calculation of its futures contract.

In economic news on Monday, the National Association of Home Builders' monthly sentiment index rose 5 points to 74 in December, the highest reading since 1999.

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