S&P 500 touches 2,000 as US new home sales fall

Stocks rose on Monday. The S&P 500 rose 0.5 percent to 1,997.92, briefly holding above 2,000 for the first time ever. The STOXX Europe 600 jumped 1.1 percent.

Stocks rose despite mixed economic data on Monday.

In the US, the Chicago Fed national activity index rose to +0.39 in July from +0.21 in June. The three-month moving average rose to +0.25 from +0.16.

However, Markit's preliminary US services PMI for August showed a fall to 58.5 from 60.8 in July. That pushed the composite PMI down to 58.8 from 60.6.

Also, new home sales in the US fell 2.4 percent in July to the lowest in four months.

In Germany, the Ifo institute’s business climate index fell to 106.3 in August from 108.0 in July, declining for the fourth consecutive month.