NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks broke new records on Easter Monday as the Dow Jones industrial and Standard and Poor's 500 indices closed at record highs.

"Investors are more focused on strong economic growth and how that potential leads to better earnings in the future," Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth in New York told the Reuters Thomson news agency on Monday.

"It is always an encouraging sign when the market rallies on broad economic news. Some of the tech stocks that had come under pressure are seen as maybe something that has a little bit more value to them," Pavlik added.

Wall Street was a beacon of light for stock traders Monday, as Europe and most of Asia had the day off for Easter and other holiday celebrations. Tokyo however did trade.

It was light trading though with less than eleven billion shares changing hands, the lowest day of the year for volume.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 373.98 points, or 1.13% higher at 33,527.19 Monday.

The Standard and Poor's 500 advanced 58.04 points, or 1.44%, to 4,077.91.

The Nasdaq Composite did best of all in percentage terms, climbing 225.49 points, or 1.67%, to 13,705.59.

The U.S. dollar surprisingly lost ground, although with yields holding steady it was not a total shock. The greenback in any event was overdue for a correction. The Canadian dollar went against the trend, losing ground. The Canadian dollar finished the New York trading session Mon day at around 1.2524.

The euro gained to 1.1810, not far off its intraday high of 1.1821. The British pound rose to 1.3905. The Japanese yen firmed to 110.21. The Swiss franc strengthened to 0.9363.

The Australian dollar jumped to 0.7649. The New Zealand dollar climbed to 0.7059.

In Japan, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 shot up 235.25 points or 0.79 percent to close at 30,089.25.