NEW YORK, March 11 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks closed higher on Monday as investors eyed the stock performance of Boeing and major airlines after an Ethiopian Airlines plane crash.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 200.64 points, or 0.79 percent, to 25,650.88. The S&P 500 increased 40.23 points, or 1.47 percent, to 2,783.30. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 149.92 points, or 2.02 percent, to 7,558.06.

Shares of the Dow component Boeing plunged more than 9 percent at the opening and the stock price declined 5.33 percent to close at 400.01 U.S. dollars apiece.

Ethiopian Airlines confirmed that a Boeing 737 MAX 8, bound for Nairobi, Kenya, crashed shortly after taking off from the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa Sunday morning, killing all 157 people on board.

It was the second in half a year that Boeing's best-selling aircraft had a fatal crash. In October, a Lion Air plane crashed into the sea off the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, killing all 189 people onboard.

Major airlines seemed to be little affected by the incident, as shares of Delta Air Lines and American Airlines added 3.09 percent and 0.44 percent, respectively.

All the other Dow components ended the session in green territory. Enditem