WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Following the mixed performance seen last week, stocks moved mostly higher during trading on Monday. The major averages all moved to the upside on the day, with the Dow posting a standout gain.
The major averages pulled back off their best levels late in the day but remained in positive territory. The Dow jumped 515.19 points or 1.1 percent to 49,407.66, the Nasdaq climbed 130.29 points or 0.6 percent to 23,592.11 and the S&P 500 rose 37.41 points or 0.5 percent to 6,976.44.
The strength on Wall Street came following the release of a report from the Institute for Supply Management showing manufacturing activity in the U.S. unexpectedly expanded for the first time in 12 months in January.
The ISM said its manufacturing PMI jumped to 52.6 in January from 47.9 in December, with a reading above 50 indicating growth. Economists had expected the index to inch up to 48.5.
The upbeat economic data helped traders shrug off lingering trade tensions along with renewed uncertainty over U.S. monetary policy.
Stocks also benefitted from signs of de-escalating tensions between the U.S. and Iran amid reports Iran is prepared to negotiate with the U.S. over its nuclear program.
The markets saw continued strength after President Donald Trump announced in a post on Truth Social that he has reached a trade deal with India.
Following a conversation with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Trump said the U.S. would reduced its reciprocal tariffs on India to 18 percent from 25 percent, while India purportedly agreed to reduce their tariffs and non-tariff barriers against the U.S. to zero.
However, traders seemed somewhat reluctant to make more significant moves ahead of the release of the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday.
The report, which is expected to show employment climbed by 70,000 jobs in January after rising by 50,000 jobs in December, could impact the outlook for interest rates.
Sector News
Airline stocks turned in some of the market's best performances on the day, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index soaring by 4.3 percent.
Substantial strength was also visible among computer hardware stocks, as reflected by the 4.2 percent surge by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index.
Banking, semiconductor and retail stocks also saw considerable strength, while energy stocks moved to the downside amid a steep drop by the price of crude oil.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index slumped by 1.3 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index tumbled by 2.5 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets have moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index shot up by 1.2 percent, the German DAX Index jumped by 1.0 percent and the French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.7 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries came under pressure over the course of the session after seeing initial strength. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, climbed 3.4 basis points to 4.275 percent.
Looking Ahead
Trading on Tuesday may be impacted by reaction to the Labor Department's report on job openings in the month of December.
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