U.S. stocks rise broadly

Stocks rose broadly on Wall Street Monday, nearly reversing the S&P 500’s losses from last week, when jitters over a new coronavirus variant roiled markets.

The benchmark index rose 1.2%. More than 85% of stocks in the index gained ground, with technology companies and banks accounting for a large slice of the gains. The rally also included airlines, cruise lines and other travel-related companies that stand to benefit from the economy staying clear of more pandemic-related restrictions.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.9%, while the Nasdaq composite gained 0.9%. Smallcompany stocks outpaced the broader market, sending the Russell 2000 index 2% higher. Long-term bond yields rose, also making up a big portion of what they lost last week.

Wall Street was encouraged by comments from Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House’s chief medical adviser, who said early indications suggested that the omicron variant of COVID-19 may be less dangerous than the delta variant. It will still take a few weeks to learn whether omicron is more contagious, causes more severe illness or evades immunity.

“The COVID concerns from last week maybe aren’t as pronounced, and some of the geopolitical tensions maybe are not quite as pronounced,” said Willie Delwiche, investment strategist at All Star Charts. “At least for a day, people feel better about it.”

The S&P 500 rose 53.24 points to 4,591.67. The Dow gained 646.95 points to 35,227.03. The Nasdaq rose 139.68 to 15,225.15. The Russell 2000 picked up 44.17 points to 2,203.48.