Markets Inch Higher In Relatively Quiet Trading Session

U.S. stocks were mostly higher on Monday on a relatively quiet economic news-front and earnings season drawing to a close.

The CBOE Volatility fell 3.1 percent to 12.71, while gold and oil continued to decline. The U.S. dollar was mostly higher against a basket of global currencies.

The bond market will pause on Tuesday in observance of Veteran's Day. U.S. equities market will trade as normal.

Looking ahead to notable earnings for the week, Cisco CSCO will report its earnings on Wednesday while Wal-Mart will report its earnings on Thursday.

• The Dow gained 0.23 percent, closing at 17,613.74.
• The S&P 500 gained 0.31 percent, closing at 2,038.26.
• The Nasdaq gained 0.41 percent, closing at 4,651.62.
• Gold lost 1.96 percent, trading at $1,146.90 an ounce.
• Oil lost 1.77 percent, trading at $77.26 a barrel.

News Of Note

President Obama urged a ban on "paid prioritization" of the Internet.

Separately, the president signed a new visa deal with China when he arrived in the country Monday morning.

Equities News Of Note

Analysts at Macquarie maintained a Neutral rating on Alibaba BABA with a price target raised to $105 from a previous $88. Shares hit new 52-week highs of $119.45 before closing the day at $119.15, up 4.01 percent.

Related: What To Expect From Alibaba And The World's Largest E-Commerce Sale

Analysts at Citigroup maintained a Buy rating on Nike NKE with a price target raised to $107 from a previous $93. Shares gained 1.26 percent, closing at $94.96.

Analysts at Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Target TGT to Buy from Hold with a $76 price target. Shares gained 2.10 percent, closing at $65.52.

3D Systems DDD reported its third quarter results this morning. The company earned $0.18 per share, beating the consensus estimate of $0.17. Revenue of $166.90 million missed the consensus estimate of $167.71 million. Shares gained 5.08 percent, closing at $36.22.

Dean Foods DF reported its third quarter results this morning. The company lost $0.03 per share, beating the consensus estimate of a $0.13 loss per share. Revenue of $2.37 billion beat the consensus estimate of $2.35 billion. Shares gained 13.73 percent, closing at $16.40.

Toll Brothers TOL reported preliminary fourth quarter results. The company guided its revenue to $1.35 billion as the number of units rose 29 percent in dollar terms and 22 percent in unit terms to 1,087 from a year ago. Shares gained 2.30 percent, closing at $32.96.

McDonald's MCD reported its October global comparable-store sales fell 0.5 percent. U.S. comps declined by 1.0 percent, European comps declined by 0.7 percent and Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa comps fell 4.2 percent. Shares gained 0.01 percent, closing at $95.11.

Facebook FB reported its Messenger app surpassed 500 million users. Shares lost 0.79 percent, closing at $75.00.

According to Bloomberg, Chevron CVX plans to issue $4 billion in bonds. Shares lost 0.74 percent, closing at $117.92.

AT&T T revealed its 2015 capex budget to be $18 billion, falling short of the company's previous forecast of $20 billion. The company also confirmed it no longer plans on developing in-flight Internet connectivity. Shares gained 0.60 percent, closing at $35.12.

Recommended: Elon Musk's Next Venture: Launching Satellites To Deliver Internet Access Worldwide

BlackBerry's BBRY CEO John Chen said that he held talks with Lenovo's and Xiaomi's CEO during a summit in Beijing over potential partnerships in the country. Shares gained 5.32 percent, closing at $11.09.

GoPro GPRO filed to sell $800 million worth of shares. Shares lost 4.19 percent, closing at $75.75.

Quote Of The Day

"Today is cruel. Tomorrow is crueller. And the day after tomorrow is beautiful." - Alibaba's founder Jack Ma.