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Stocks At New Highs After Vote Is Set To End Government Shutdown

The stock market traded at session highs Monday afternoon after congressional leaders said they've reached an accord to end the federal government shutdown.

X Sen. Charles Schumer, the minority leader in the Senate, said he and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had "come to an arrangement" to re-open government agencies later today, reports said. Many government offices were closed after Congress failed to approve funding Friday night to keep operations going.

The Nasdaq composite led with a 0.7% increase, while the S&P 500 added 0.5% and the Dow Jones industrial average 0.3%. The small-cap Russell 2000 was up 0.2%. All except the Russell climbed to all-time highs.

Volume was higher on the Nasdaq and lower on the NYSE compared with the same time Friday. Winners led losers by a 7-to-5 ratio on the NYSE while winners had a slight edge on the Nasdaq.

In a day when many health care stocks rose, biotechs were the best-performing industry group thanks to two major acquisitions.

Sanofi (SNY) agreed to buy Bioverativ (BIVV) for $11.6 billion and Celgene (CELG) will acquire drug partner Juno Therapeutics (JUNO) for $9 billion. A bullish tone spread to other medical stocks. Bioverativ shares soared 62% and Juno 27% in huge volume. Sanofi fell 3% while Celgene erased losses and was flat.

Mazor Robotics (MZOR) broke out of a cup with handle base with a 61.80 buy point. The Israel-based maker of surgical robotic systems is unprofitable but its sales growth is ramping up. Cellectis (CLLS) jumped out of another cup with handle and was near the 32.20 buy point. Volume was several times more than usual. Cellectis is developing cancer treatments  with a technology used by Juno and some other biotechs.

Amgen (AMGN) edged above the 191.20 buy point of a cup-without-handle base and above-average volume. The stock, which was discussed in The Income Investor last week, does have a lagging relative strength line.

Oil stocks also were leading, and Halliburton (HAL) cleared the 53.79 buy point of a cup with handle. Volume was heavy after Halliburton beat fourth-quarter earnings and revenue views Monday. International market revenue growth outpaced U.S. growth, as rising oil prices fanned demand for the oilfield services company.

The rebound in brick-and-mortar retail continued with Guess (GES) breaking out of an undefined base. The stock cleared an 18.40 buy point. But volume was sharply lower than usual.

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