US stocks lifted by oil rally, Buffett's Apple stake

US stocks pushed firmly higher Monday after billionaire investor Warren Buffett took a $1 billion bite into Apple and oil prices surged to new 2016 peaks.

Asian markets also rose on signs that governments would continue growth-favoring policies, while bourses in Paris and London avoided big swings on a day that Frankfurt was closed due to a bank holiday.

On Wall Street, the broad-based S&P finished up 1.0 percent. Some analysts said the US market was primed to go higher after falling three weeks in a row.

"The market declined for three consecutive weeks and maybe it reached the point it attracted some buyers," said Bill Lynch, director of investment for Hinsdale Associates.

Apple surged 3.7 percent following the disclosure of the Buffett stake, which comes about two and a half weeks after another prominent investor, Carl Icahn, said he had exited the US tech giant.

Apple, the world's biggest company by market capitalization, has been under pressure as a result of slowing iPhone sales, threatening its chief revenue and profit source.

Petroleum-linked shares rallied, as oil prices closed at new 2016 highs after Goldman Sachs said the petroleum market was in a short-term supply deficit.

Most retailers also scored handsome gains, with Home Depot and Wal-Mart both advancing 1.7 percent ahead of earnings releases this week. The sector was battered last week following disappointing results from Macy's and others.

In Europe, London managed to end the day with a gain of 0.2 percent, pulled up by energy and mining stocks. But Paris dipped 0.2 percent.

Economic data in China was lackluster, with industrial production and retail sales rising less in April than they had in March.

However, Shanghai stocks finished 0.8 percent higher, buoyed by central bank assurances that it would continue with policies to support growth.

Meanwhile Tokyo investors cheered a report Saturday in the Nikkei business daily that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had told officials he wants to put off a consumption tax hike to avoid damaging the already tottering economy.

The last rise in April 2014 -- the nation's first in 17 years -- was blamed for stalling a nascent recovery and pushing Japan into a recession from which it has hardly recovered.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei shares index closed 0.3 percent higher, with a weaker yen also providing support.

- Key figures around 2100 GMT -

New York - Dow: UP 1.0 percent at 17,710.71 (close)

New York - S&P 500: UP 1.0 percent at 2,066.66 (close)

New York - Nasdaq: UP 1.2 percent at 4,775.46 (close)

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.2 percent at 6,151.40 (close)

Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.2 percent at 4,312.28 (close)

Frankfurt - DAX 30: Closed for a public holiday

EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.5 percent at 2,951.39 (close)

Tokyo: Nikkei 225: UP 0.3 percent at 16,466.40 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.8 percent at 2,850.86 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng: UP 0.8 percent at 19,883.95 (close)

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1318 from $1.1309 Friday

Dollar/yen: UP at 109.06 yen from 108.63 yen