Nasdaq Composite Closes At All-Time High, Dow Jones Industrial Average Rallies As Shares Of Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS) Jump 1%

U.S. stocks rallied higher Monday with the Nasdaq composite closing at a record high, topping its previous all-time high set last Thursday. All 10 sectors in the S&P 500 ended higher, led by gains in the financial sector.

The Dow (INDEXDJX:.DJI) leaped 103.83 points, or 0.58 percent, to close at 18,119.78. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index (INDEXNASDAQ:.IXIC) added 12.86 points, or 0.61 percent, to end at 2,122.85. The Nasdaq composite (INDEXSP:.INX) gained 36.97 points, or 0.72 percent, to finish at 5,153.97.

The Nasdaq composite also hit a new intraday high of 5,162.13, the second time in less than a week the index has soared past its all-time record set during the peak of the dot-com bubble era. The Nasdaq’s recent gains have been powered by biotech stocks.

The Nasdaq biotechnology index gained 1.5 percent Monday, led by a 25 percent rally from Epizyme Inc. (NASDAQ:EPZM).

Global stock markets traded sharply higher in the U.S., Europe and Asia Monday after Greece submitted reform proposals to eurozone finance ministers, easing investors’ fears Athens will default on its debt and exit the eurozone. The euro rebounded and rose to $1.13 against the U.S. dollar after touching as high as $1.14.

Dow component Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS) led the index higher Monday, adding 1.6 percent. Healthcare company Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE:MRK), credit card issuer American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) and banking giant JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) each gained more than 1 percent.

Shares of Cigna Corporation (NYSE:CI) jumped nearly 5 percent to $162.68 after the health services company rejected Anthem Inc.’s (NYSE:ANTM) $47 billion takeover proposal, saying its rival's bid was "not in the best interest of shareholders." Shares of Anthem closed up 3.7 percent to $171.11.

Economists are looking ahead to the Commerce Department’s monthly report on durable goods orders for May after U.S. business investment rebounded in April. Nondefense capital goods orders excluding aircraft, a closely watched measure for future business spending plans, rose 1 percent in April after an upwardly revised 1.5 percent increase in March, the Commerce Department said last month.

The Commerce Department will also release new-home sales data Tuesday after separate data Monday showed U.S. home resales in May surged to the highest level since November 2009. Economists forecast sales of new homes to rise to an annual rate of 540,000 in May from 517,000 in the prior month.