The Dow jumps more than 350 points amid expectations for a historic Cyber Monday
- All three major US indices jumped on what was expected to be a historic Cyber Monday.
- Concerns about the prospect of slowing demand and rising rates have pummeled equities in recent months.
- Follow the US indices in real time here.
Stocks jumped Monday, staging a comeback following a series of sell-offs that had wiped out Wall Street's 2018 gains last week, as investors waded back into the market on the biggest online-shopping day of the year.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.4%, or more than 350 points. The S&P 500 climbed 1.5% and out of correction territory, while the Nasdaq Composite gained more than 2%. The three major US indices had fallen sharply in recent months on the back of a cocktail of concerns, including the prospect of cooling demand and rising rates.
"Whether the volatility of the last eight weeks will be followed by a market bounce, or a deeper pullback, will largely depend on the development of political risk, central bank policy, and incoming economic data," said Mark Haefele, chief investment officer at UBS.
Retail stocks rallied as investors found optimism from Cyber Monday and Black Friday, which were expected to result in historic sales numbers, with the SPDR S&P Retail ETF climbing 1.9%.
Investors scooped up high-flying technology stocks that had plummeted into bear territory last week, reeling after the Wall Street Journal reported Apple cut production orders for its iPhones. The FANG+ Index was up more than 3.5%, led by Facebook and Amazon. Monday afternoon, Microsoft briefly surpassed Apple as the most valuable company in the world.
The S&P 500's energy sector jumped 1.5% as oil began to rebound, with West Texas Intermediate and Brent both up more than 2% on Monday to $51.56 and $60.61, respectively. But prices are still deep in a bear market, having fallen more than a quarter over the past three months. OPEC and other major producers led by Russia are set to discuss coordinated production cuts next week.
Elsewhere, General Motors said it plans to halt production at five North American plants, wiping out more than 14,000 jobs. Shares of the company rallied about 4.8% following the announcement.
Trade tensions will come back into focus this week as President Donald Trump is expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at a multilateral summit in Argentina on Friday and Monday, with tariff escalations between the world's largest economies on the line.
The dollar jumped 0.14% against a basket of peers, and Treasury yields were also higher. The Federal Reserve is scheduled to on Thursday release meeting minutes from its latest policy meeting, which will be closely watched for signs of whether recent market turbulence could influence its rate path.