Wall Street was higher in midday trade as investors remained enthusiastic about the interest rate cut issued by the Federal Reserve last week and ahead of home sales data and a regional manufacturing survey due later in the week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.14 percent to 13,839.94, while the Nasdaq Composite had added 0.53 percent to 2,685.51 and the S&P 500 was 0.71 percent higher to 1,526.46.
Carmakers were higher even though the United Auto Workers initiated a strike against General Motors (NYSE: GM).
GM gained 17 cents to $35.10, while Ford Motor (NYSE: F) was up 22 cents to $8.45 after its CEO said that it is talking with possible buyers for its Land Rover and Jaguar brands.
Technology shares were higher.
Apple (NAS: AAPL; LSE: ACP; FWB: APC) hit an all-time high of $149.85 and was trading $4.85 higher to $149 just past midday.
Internet search engine Google (NAS: GOOG; LSE: GGEA) also reached a new record high share price of $571.46 and was trading at $567.96 later in the session, a gain of $7.86.
Microsoft, meanwhile, was 83 cents higher to $29.48 ahead of the release of its “Halo 3” video game, due Tuesday.
Shares of solar power-related companies were higher as a solar power conference opened in Long Beach, California.
SunPower Corp (NAS: SPWR) added $2.14 to $86.01 on positive comment, while Power-One Inc. (NAS: PWER) gained 25 cents to $4.92 after it introduced a new photovoltaic inverter for large commercial solar systems.