Stocks rose on Monday, extending two weeks of gains, as crude oil slipped lower and tech shares rose higher. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite climbed higher as shares of Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) jumped 8% after the electric carmaker announced it was interested in issuing a stock split. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also rose nearly 100 points on the day.
Oil prices fell on Monday following a surge due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Domestic benchmark West Texas Intermediate (NYSE: USO) fell about 7% on Monday to trade around $106, while international benchmark Brent Crude (NYSE: BNO) settled about 7% lower at about $112 per barrel.
Here's how the market settled on Monday:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): +0.71% or +32.46 points to 4,575.52
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): +0.27% or +94.65 points to 34,955.89
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): +1.31% or +185.60 points to 14,354.90
Walmart to stop selling cigarettes at some U.S. locations:
Walmart (NYSE: WMT) announced Monday it is ending cigarette sales in some stores. The move sent shares of Altria Group (NYSE: MO), which sells Marlboro brand tobacco in the United States, almost 3% lower.
This decision follows an internal debate at Walmart and affects stores in states including California, Florida, New Mexico and Arkansas, the Wall Street Journal reports. In some locations, cigarette shelves will be replaced with self-checkout registers and products like candy, according to WSJ.
"We are always looking at ways to meet our customers' needs while still operating an efficient business," Walmart said in a statement. "As a result of our ongoing focus on the tobacco category, we have made the business decision to discontinue the sale of tobacco in select stores."
Tesla wants to split stock to pay a stock dividend:
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) is planning a second stock split in two years so it can pay a stock dividend to shareholders, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing Monday. The electric car maker will ask shareholders to vote at this year's annual meeting to authorize additional shares in order to enable the split, the company announced in a tweet.
A stock dividend is a dividend paid to shareholders in the form of additional company shares instead of cash. These dividends do not affect the value of the company, but they do dilute its share price.
The news sent the stock up more than 6% at about $1,075 per share.
Here's how benchmarks started trading after market open:
S&P 500 Index: -0.10% or -4.40 points to 4,538.66
Dow Jones Industrial Average: -0.12% or -41.98 points to 34,819.26
Nasdaq Composite Index: +0.09% or +12.18 points to 14,181.48