U.S. stocks ended sharply higher on Monday, with the S&P 500 closing at its highest level in more than two weeks on optimism that President Donald Trump’s wide-ranging tariffs could be targeted than expected earlier, which could save the economy from slipping into a recession. All three major indexes ended in positive territory.
How Did The Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) rose 1.4% or 597.97 points, to close at 42,583.32 points.
The S&P 500 jumped 1.8% or 100.01 points, to finish at 5,767.57 points. Consumer discretionary, industrials and technology stocks were the biggest gainers.
The Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) rose 1.7%, while the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY) added 3.5%. The Industrials Select Sector SPDR (XLI) gained 1.5%. Ten of the 11 sectors of the benchmark index ended in positive territory.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 2.3% or 404.54 points to end at 18,188.59 points.
The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was down 9.34% to 17.48. A total of 13.6 billion shares were traded on Monday, lower than the last 20-session average of 16.5 billion.
Investors Optimistic Tariffs Won’t Hurt Economy Much
Stocks rallied on Monday, building on Friday’s gains on renewed hopes that Trump’s tariffs would be more targeted than earlier anticipated. Investors have been jittery over the past few weeks about the impact of Trump’s wide-ranging tariffs on the nation’s economy.
Higher inflation and Trump’s tariff plans raised fears that the economy could slip into a recession in the coming days. However, the fears somewhat eased ahead of Trump’s April 2 implementation day of reciprocal tariffs.
Investors’ confidence got a boost on reports that the tariffs could be more targeted and narrow in scope, while the sector-specific tariffs could be delayed further.
Also, Trump told the press after a cabinet meeting on Monday that he may give some countries breaks on reciprocal tariffs. However, he cautioned that sector-specific tariffs like autos and pharma would in any case be implemented in the near term, which means they may not go into effect on April 2.
Stocks rebounded following the renewed optimism. Shares of Tesla, Inc. (TSLA), which had declined for nine straight weeks, soared 11.9%, while semiconductor giant NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) jumped 3.2%. NVIDIA carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
No major economic data was released on Monday.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
