US stock market opens higher

By Ovunc Kutlu

NEW YORK (AA) - The U.S. stock market opened higher Monday to begin the first trading day of the week with gains.

The Dow added 9 points to start the day at 20,950 and the S&P 500 rose 3 points to 2,388 points.

The Nasdaq increased 20 points to 6,068 points -- a new all-time high.

Personal income rose 0.2 percent in March from the previous month, the U.S. Commerce Department announced earlier Monday.

Personal spending, however, remained unchanged last month, according to the department.

Republicans and Democrats agreed late Sunday to a $1-trillion-plus budget to keep government agencies funded through September. This gave confidence to stock market investors, analysts said.