Stocks rise on Wall Street, clawing back bit of 4-week slump

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are rallying Monday, as Wall Street claws back some of its sharp and sudden September losses.

The S&P 500 was 1.8% higher in afternoon trading, following up on its first fourweek losing streak in more than a year. Momentum has been ultra-quick to shift recently, though, and the market has had several early gains quickly vanish. The S&P 500’s gain for Monday has already veered between 1% and 1.8%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 539 points, or 2%, at 27,711, as of 1:36 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.7% higher.

One of the big worries hurting stocks this month has been fears that the market climbed too high and got too expensive through its 60% rally from late March into early September. But several companies announced big mergers and acquisitions, which show that at least some CEOs see value at current prices.

Energy stocks made broad gains after Devon Energy and WPX Energy agreed to combine in an all-stock deal. Devon Energy rose 11%, and WPX Energy gained 15.9%.

Cleveland-Cliffs jumped 10.4% after it said it will buy the U.S. business of steelmaking and mining giant ArcelorMittal for $1.4 billion. ArcelorMittal’s U.S.-listed stock rose 9.7%.

Another strong gainer was Uber, which rose 3.5% after it won an appeal that will allow it to keep operating in London.

The market’s gains were widespread, with more than 90% of the stocks in the S&P 500 higher. Big Tech stocks, which have been getting the most criticism for getting too expensive following their strong pandemic run, were doing the heaviest lifting.

Amazon climbed 2.1%, Apple rose 1.9% and Microsoft gained 0.8%.

These companies are massive, which gives their stock movements much more sway over the S&P 500 and broad-market indexes than other stocks.