New York  - US stocks posted gains on Monday, led by energy companies and some optimism ahead of a big week of economic figures in the United States.

The price of crude oil jumped 3.4 per cent to 71.49 dollars per barrel, pushing up shares of petrol producers Exxon Mobil and Chevron.

The gains came after the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid two straight weeks for the first time since hitting a 12-year low in March.

The US Labour Department will report monthly unemployment figures later this week, while the private Conference Board will issue its monthly report on consumer confidence on Tuesday.

"Some investors are assuming that we'll see some economic numbers that may meet or exceed expectations this week," David Heupel of Thrivent Financial told Bloomberg News.

The blue-chip Dow rose 90.99 points, or 1.08 per cent, to 8,529.38. The broader Standard and Poor's 500 gained 8.33 points, or 0.91 per cent, to 927.23. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index was up 5.84 points, or 0.32 per cent, to 1,844.06.

The US currency fell slightly against the euro to 71 euro cents from 71.14 euro cents on Friday. But the dollar rose against the Japanese currency to 96.05 yen from 95.18 yen on Friday. (dpa)