Dow bounds to record high, boosted by banks, energy

• US indexes rally; Dow out front, ends up ~1.2%
• Energy and Financials lead S&P sector gainers; Utilities down most
• Dollar down; crude up >1.5%; gold up >2.5%; bitcoin up ~3%
• US 10-Year Treasury yield falls to ~4.15%

DOW BOUNDS TO RECORD HIGH, BOOSTED BY BANKS, ENERGY

Wall Street kicked off a fresh, post-holiday week with solid gains on Monday, which sent the Dow to a record high.

All three major U.S. stock indexes crossed the finish line well into positive territory.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 594.79 points, or 1.23%, to 48,977.18, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 43.58 points, or 0.64%, to 6,902.05 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC gained 160.19 points, or 0.69%, to 23,395.82.

The energy sector .SPNY jumped 2.7% to its highest level since last March after a U.S. military strike on Venezuela, which led to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The action could give the United States access to the world's largest heavy sour crude reserves. Supermajors Exxon Mobil XOM.N and Chevron gained 2.2% and 5.1%, respectively.

Banks .SPXBK, airlines .SPCOMAIR and consumer discretionary stocks .SPLRCD were three of the day's other clear outperformers, gaining between 1.9% and 2.8%.

The financial sector .SPSY appeared to be reaping the benefits of increasing optimism as fourth-quarter reporting season approaches, with Goldman Sachs GS.N and Morgan Stanley MS.N hitting all-time highs.

Crypto exchanges and precious metals miners also had a good Monday.

Today's lone bit of economic data arrived in the form of the Institute for Supply Management's PMI report, which showed activity at woebegone U.S. factories contracting at its fastest pace in 14 months.

On Tuesday, the data pickings are just as slim, with S&P Global offering its final take on services sector PMI.

Closing snapshot