US stocks close higher as tech and consumer shares help market push past China growth worries

• US stocks staged a turnaround Monday to finish higher after opening in the red.
• Disney advanced as hedge fund Third Point took a new stake in the company.

US stocks advanced on Monday, with strength from tech and consumer-related shares fueling the market's turnaround from earlier losses sparked by China's slumping prospects for robust economic growth this year.

Monday's win put the Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 on a path to stretch their win streaks to five weeks.

The consumer staples and the consumer discretionary sectors of the S&P 500 were the best performing groups of the session, and entertainment giant Walt Disney contributed to gains in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Disney climbed following a CNBC report that hedge fund Third Point run by Dan Loeb has taken a new stake in the company and wants it to spin off ESPN.

But the S&P 500's energy sector put in the worst performance of the day, tracking losses in oil prices. Oil prices were slammed down on consumption concerns after China posted monthly factory output and retail sales figures that missed expectations. Dow component Chevron fell, as did Exxon Mobil and Halliburton. China's central bank cut two interest rates in a bid to boost short-term liquidity.

Here's where US indexes stood at 4:00 p.m. on Monday:

• S&P 500: 4,297.14, up 0.4%

• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 33,912.63, up 0.45% (151.58 points)

• Nasdaq Composite: 13,128.05, up 0.62%

Around the markets, former New York Fed President William Dudley said the central bank will likely push interest rates up past 4%. Meanwhile, BlackRock says the current stock market rally isn't sustainable as earnings deteriorate and Fed's rate hikes stall growth.

Homebuilder stocks fell as home builders now see a recession in the US housing market, according to the monthly NAHB/Wells Fargo survey.

Hedge fund Renaissance Technologies halved its Tesla stake, dumped GameStop and AMC Entertainment, and bet big on Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway in the second quarter, a regulatory filing shows.

Oil prices sank. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 3% to $89.35 per barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, lost 3.2% at $94.98.

Gold was off 1.2% at $1,794.70 per ounce. The 10-year Treasury yield fell 5 basis points to 2.83%.

Bitcoin lost 1.2% to trade at $24,043.11.