Personal spending gained a strong 0.5% in November to lift the markets to a higher close with the Dow climbing 73 points to set a new record of 16,294. Nasdaq soared 44 points to 4148.
On the upside
Regency Energy Partners (NYSE: RGP) will pay approximately $1.3 billion to purchase the midstream business from Eagle Rock Energy Partners (Nasdaq: EROC).
Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) co-founder and chair Jack Dorsey joined Walt Disney's (NYSE: DIS) board of directors.
Citigroup upgraded KB Home (NYSE: KBH) from a Sell rating to a Neutral rating.
On the downside
Investors locked in profits on Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE).
The Canadian Standards Association granted ISO/IEC 17025:2005 certification to ReneSola (NYSE: SOL) for its Jiangsu Product Center Laboratory but the stock price slipped.
Shares of CytRx (Nasdaq: CYTR) continued falling.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 5 to 2 on the NYSE and by more than 5 to 2 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 climbed 9 points to 1827. Bitcoin rose $39.20 or 6.00% to $692.00.