Bulls Go Wire to Wire

Crude was weaker as tensions appeared to be easing between London and Tehran over the 15 British sailors and marines who are being held captive in Iran. Ali Larijani, Iran's top international negotiator, suggested his nation hold discussions with Britain to resolve the situation peacefully.

Iran nabbed the service members March 23 while they were searching vessels in the Persian Gulf. Concerns about a possible military confrontation or a decline in Middle East petroleum shipments supported a sizable run-up in oil last week.

Meanwhile, a report from the National Association of Realtors also raised Wall Street's spirits. The group said the index tracking pending U.S. home sales rose 0.7% to 109.3 in February from 108.5 in January.

Treasury prices were lower. The 10-year note was down 5/32, yielding 4.66%, and the 30-year bond was off 6/32 in price to yield 4.85%.

On Monday, stocks in New York posted minor gains following another back-and-forth session. For the day, the Dow rose 27.95 points, or 0.23%, to 12,382.30. The S&P 500 added 3.69 points, or 0.26%, at 1424.55, and the Nasdaq ticked up 0.62 points, or 0.03%, to 2422.26.

"The second quarter kicked off with the kind of resilience we saw late last year," said Marc Pado, U.S. market strategist with Cantor Fitzgerald. "Investors are starting to set themselves up for a long holiday weekend, one with important economic news out with the markets closed on Friday."