· The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 0.3 percent to end at 22,092.81, an all-time high.
The S&P 500 .SPX gained 0.19 percent to 2,476.83 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 0.18 percent to 6,351.56.
For the week, the Dow climbed 1.2 percent, the S&P 500 rose 0.2 percent and the Nasdaq shed 0.4 percent.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended at its eighth straight record high on Friday, with gains in JPMorgan Chase and other banks after data showed U.S. employers hired more workers than expected in July.
· The strong jobs report is likely to clear the way for the Federal Reserve to announce a plan to start shrinking its $4.2 trillion bond portfolio in September, and could strengthen its case to raise rates for the third time this year in December.
Perceived chances of an interest rate hike by the U.S. central bank by the end of the year increased to 50 percent from 46 percent after the release of the data, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool.
· Analysts, on average, expect S&P 500 earnings to have grown 12 percent in the second quarter and they project earnings up 9.3 percent for the September quarter, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
· Asia markets opened higher on Monday, with investors' risk sentiment likely improving from Friday's better-than-expected U.S. jobs number as they await to hear Pyongyang's response to U.N. sanctions over the weekend.
· The United Nations Security Council unanimously imposed new sanctions on North Korea on Saturday over its intercontinental ballistic missile tests in July. Reuters said the sanctions could slash the reclusive regime's $3 billion annual export revenue by a third.
Some analysts, however, said it is unlikely that the sanctions could deter leader Kim Jong Un from pursuing his nuclear weapons ambitions.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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