The U.S. equity market ticked higher on Monday, with all three major indices rewriting the record highs they posted on Friday. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 added 0.3% and 0.1%, respectively, while the Dow (unch) eked out a narrow victory. The major indices traded within a pretty narrow range from start to finish.

Energy stocks led Monday’s advance as the price of crude oil rallied to its highest level since July 2015; WTI crude futures finished higher by 3.0% at $57.29/bbl. The price increase followed a weekend purge in Saudi Arabia, in which Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman imprisoned dozens of princes, ministers, and ex-ministers on allegations of corruption. The S&P 500’s energy sector finished at the top of the day’s sector standings with a gain of 2.2%.

The consumer discretionary sector (+0.7%) also finished comfortably ahead of the broader market. Within the group, 21st Century Fox (FOXA 27.45, +2.48) and Walt Disney (DIS 100.64, +2.00) jumped 9.9% and 2.0%, respectively, following a CNBC report that the two companies have discussed a deal in recent weeks that would result in Disney owning most of 21st Century Fox. Meanwhile, Michael Kors (KORS 54.62, +7.00) surged 14.7% after reporting better-than-expected earnings and revenues. 

Conversely, telecoms within the S&P 500 struggled on Monday, losing 2.4%, after Sprint (S 5.90, -0.77) and T-Mobile US (TMUS 55.54, -3.37) announced that they failed to reach a merger agreement; the two companies lost 11.5% and 5.7%, respectively. However, Charter Communications (CHTR 348.40, +12.97) jumped 3.9% following reports that Softbank–the parent company of Sprint–is now willing to re-explore acquisition talks with the company.

The consumer staples sector (-1.1%) also underperformed amid broad weakness. Within the group, pharmacy retailer CVS Health (CVS 66.80, -2.45) and food distributor Sysco (SYY 54.17, -2.49) dropped 3.5% and 4.4%, respectively, despite reporting above-consensus earnings.

In other corporate news, Broadcom (AVGO 277.52, +3.89) submitted a $70 per share takeover offer for Qualcomm (QCOM 62.52, +0.71), which, if completed, would mark the largest technology acquisition in history. However, CNBC reported that Qualcomm is expected to reject Broadcom’s offer. The two chipmakers finished with respective gains of 1.4% and 1.2%.

Elsewhere, U.S. Treasuries finished mostly higher, with the yield on the benchmark 10-yr Treasury note slipping two basis points to 2.32%. However, the 2-yr Treasury note bucked the trend, sending its yield one basis point higher to 1.62%. Meanwhile, the U.S. Dollar Index slid 0.2% to 94.63.

Also of note, New York Fed President William Dudley announced his decision to retire in mid-2018. Mr. Dudley has headed the New York Fed since 2009.

Investors did not receive any economic data on Monday, but they will receive three reports on Tuesday–the NFIB Small Business Optimism Index at 7:00 ET, the September Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) at 10:00 ET, and September Consumer Credit (Briefing.com consensus $18.3 billion) at 15:00 ET.

• Nasdaq Composite +26.1% YTD
• Dow Jones Industrial Average +19.2% YTD
• S&P 500 +15.7% YTD
• Russell 2000 +10.4% YTD