The major indexes have edged below the afternoon trading figures lately. Dow +39.93, Nasdaq +7.34, S&P 500 +4.14.

Treasury-bond prices continued to drop, following the selloff on Friday, and helping rise interest rates. The 10-year note declined 6/32 point, or $1.86 per $1,000 invested, to yield 4.078%.

The dollar gained ground against the euro and yen, the euro declining to $1.2062 vs. $1.2122. The greenback advanced to 109.35 yen vs. 108.60, late Friday.

Light, sweet crude futures rose 81 cents to $54.35 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Gold set a new five-week high on a stronger dollar. Gold for August delivery gained $1.80, or 0.42% to finish at $431.10 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest close price since May 5.

Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average gained 0.06%.

In Europe, France's CAC-40 advanced 0.46%, Britain's FTSE 100 gained 0.40% and Germany's DAX index added 0.29%.

Shares of Morgan Stanley (MWD: chart) climbed 2.3%, following the company's announcement that Philip Purcell agreed to retire.

Shares of DreamWorks Animation (DWA: chart) declined 5% after the company slashed earnings estimates, due to a soft third weekend for the animated motion picture 'Madagascar.'

News Corp. (NWS: chart) gained 2.5%, following the announcement of the repurchase of $3 billion in class A and B stock from time to time on the open market. The company forecasts to complete the repurchase within the upcoming two years.

Taser International Inc. advanced 4.3%, or 47 cents, to $11.31, after announcing a $1.4 million dollar order from the military for non-lethal weapons. The company plans to ship the order in 2Q.

Boeing Co. (BA: chart), which was entrusted a $4.6 billion order by Qatar Airways, climbed 25 cents to $64.90 on the NYSE.

Connetics Corp. (CNCT: chart) dropped 23% to $15.97 on Nasdaq. Connetics said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration forced it to slash 2005 profit and revenue targets by not approving the company's acne treatment products.

Warner Music Group Corp. (WMG: chart) posted a narrower loss in its first quarter as a publicly traded company. The company's stock lost 2.9% to $16.46 on NYSE.