Midday Report: Stocks Moving Higher as Weaker Irma Shores Up Optimism

All three major indexes notched healthy gains Monday as concerns over Hurricane Irma and North Korea abated some. Dow components Apple (AAPL) - Get Report and Goldman Sachs (GS) - Get Report drove the index back above 22,000 early Monday. The Dow was up 1%. The S&P 500 gained 0.8%. And the Nasdaq pushed higher 0.9%.

Hurricane Irma was downgraded to a Tropical Storm early Monday as damages in Florida weren't quite as bad as anticipated. Maximum sustained wind speeds fell to about 65 miles per hour as Irma moved along the Florida coastline. Gusting wind and storm surge remain extremely dangerous, but the tropical storm will likely become a depression tomorrow. Investors became more confident as the storm's damages look to take a smaller toll than first predicted. Stocks rose, while safe haven assets including gold fell.

Tesla (TSLA) - Get Report stock revved up over 4% Monday after the electric carmaker extended the battery life of certain models for drivers in Florida so they could evacuate from Hurricane Irma. Tesla performed an automatic update on vehicles that unlocked the full battery capacity. The update allowed for an extra 30 to 40 miles of driving. Tesla confirmed the change after a Model S driver contacted the company saying he would need around another 30 miles of range to evacuate in traffic.

And Teva (TEVA) - Get Report stock jumped around 20% in Monday trading after the company announced a new CEO. The world's largest generic drug maker will now run under Kare Schultz. Teva's CEO hunt has lasted for more than seven months, during which Teva's stock plummeted close to 50%.