1st LD Writethru: U.S. stocks surge with global shares

Wall Street rose sharply on Monday boosted by upbeat economic data and optimistic sentiment from overseas stock markets.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average leapt 263.65 points, or 1.49 percent, to 17,976.31. The S&P 500 jumped 25.22 points, or 1.22 percent, to 2,086.24. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 56.22 points, or 1.15 percent, to 4,947.44.

Overseas stock markets witnessed broad-based increases on Monday. Chinese equities refreshed their seven-year highs after China announced more details of the New Silk Road plan, with the Shanghai Composite Index soaring nearly 2.6 percent.

China unveiled on Saturday the principles, framework, and cooperation priorities and mechanisms in its Belt and Road Initiative in a bid to enhance regional connectivity and embrace a brighter future together. Related shares of infrastructure, water conservation and transportation all ended the trading day with outstanding performances.

European shares closed sharply higher with the Germany's benchmark DAX index at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange rising 1.8 percent.

Investor sentiment was also buoyed by upbeat economic data. The U.S. Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, rose 3.1 percent to 106.9 in February, its highest level since June 2013, said the National Association of Realtors Monday.

The U.S. Commerce Department said on Monday that personal income increased 0.4 percent in February from the previous month, beating market expectations. Consumer spending, which takes up more than two-thirds of the U.S. economy, rose 11.8 billion dollar, or 0.1 percent.

"Even as disposable income has grown more in the past two months than at any point in the latter half of last year, consumer spending has fallen from 4.9 percent to 0.4 percent on a 3-month annualized basis since October. With no fiscal calamity in the foreseeable future, it looks like consumers are taking extra cash to stock their coffers rather than spend on goods and services," said Jay Morelock, an economist at FTN Financial, in a note.

Meanwhile, traders were still digesting Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's comments. Shortly before Friday's closing bell, Yellen said in a San Francisco Fed conference that an increase in the Fed's benchmark rate "may well be warranted later this year," and the pace for the rate hike would likely be gradual.

In corporate news, UnitedHealth Group Inc. agreed to buy Catamaran Corp. for about 12.8 billion dollars. According to a statement released by the two companies, UnitedHealth will pay 61. 50 dollars a share, 27 percent higher than Catamaran's closing share price of 48.32 dollars last Friday. Shares of the former added 2.53 percent to 121.00 dollars apiece on Monday, while the latter romped 23.82 percent to 59.83 dollars apiece. Endite