Sept. 28 (UPI) — U.S. markets delivered strong gains on Monday amid rising tech stocks and optimism surrounding a new round of COVID-19 economic stimulus.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day up 410.1 points, or 1.51%, while the S&P 500 gained 1.61% and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.87% as major tech stocks rose broadly to help lead the gains.
Amazon stock gained 2.55%, Alphabet increased 1.36%, Microsoft grew 0.83% and Facebook climbed 0.78%.
Bank stocks also received a boost as Citigroup gained 3.12% and Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs all increased more than 2%.
Devon Energy and WPX Energy announced they would move forward with merger plans, sending their stocks up 11.24% and 16.31% respectively.
Markets responded to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s scheduled meeting with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Monday to discuss a long-awaited stimulus package as Congress’ pre-election recess looms.
“We are having our conversations,” Pelosi told CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday. “And when I have a conversation with the administration, it is in good faith. I trust Secretary Mnuchin to represent something that can reach a solution. And I believe we can come to an agreement.”
Monday’s gains came after a rally on Friday that saw the Dow climb more than 300 points but markets remained down for the month of September, with the Dow falling 3%, the S&P 500 sliding 4.4% and the Nasdaq dropping 5.8%.
