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Stocks rose sharply on Monday as Wall Street built on the strong gains from the previous session.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average screamed higher 482.57 points, or 1.8%, midday to 27,656.53.
The S&P 500 spiked 50.64 points, or 1.5%, to 3,349.10.
The NASDAQ leaped 136.18 points, or 1.3%, to 11,050.55.
Shares of major tech names rose broadly. Facebook advanced 0.6%, and Amazon climbed 1.7%. Apple was up 1%. Alphabet advanced 1.1% and Microsoft traded higher by 0.8%.
Bank stocks also contributed to Monday’s gains. JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley all popped more than 2%.
Sentiment on Wall Street got a boost after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Sunday a last-minute coronavirus aid deal remains on the table as House Democrats try to forge ahead on a smaller aid package costing about $2.4 trillion. The chamber could vote on the bill as soon as next week. Still, that price tag is well above what Republican leadership has indicated it will support for a new package.
Investors also cheered a slew of corporate dealmaking activity. Devon Energy and WPX Energy announced they will mover forward with a merger of equals, sending their stocks up 5% and 8.2%, respectively. Meanwhile, Caesars Entertainment revealed a cash offer to buy London-based William Hill for 2.9 billion pounds.
Shares of companies that would benefit from the economy reopening caught a bid. Carnival Corp picked up 1.8%, and American Airlines was up 2.8%.
Still, major averages are on track to post steep losses for September, a historically weak month for stocks. The Dow dropped off 2%, and the S&P 500 has fallen nearly 4.4%, while the NASDAQ has declined 6.1%. The declines followed a massive comeback from the coronavirus selloff that saw the S&P 500 climb more than 50% from its March bottom.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury were static, maintaining yields at Friday’s 0.66%.
Oil prices recaptured 19 cents to $40.44 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices climbed $10.60 to $1,876.90 U.S. an ounce.
