NEW YORK, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks climbed on Monday, extending the gains they had scored in the prior week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 151.39 points, or 0.45 percent, to 33,912.44. The S&P 500 increased 16.99 points, or 0.40 percent, to 4,297.14. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 80.86 points, or 0.62 percent, to 13,128.05.
Nine of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in green, with consumer staples and utilities up 1.05 percent and 0.81 percent, respectively, outpacing the rest. Energy and materials slipped 1.98 percent and 0.09 percent, respectively, the only two declining groups.
Investors are eyeing on earnings from big retailers such as Home Depot, Walmart and Target.
Wall Street also awaited U.S. economic highlights this week, including July retail sales and the Fed's minutes both slated for release on Wednesday.
For the week ending Friday, the Dow rose 2.9 percent, the S&P 500 advanced 3.3 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 3.1 percent.
