NEW YORK: The Dow was set for its best day in more than three months on Monday as investors piled back into financials and energy shares that are set to benefit from a broader economic recovery.
The Dow Jones Transports Average, considered a barometer of economic health, jumped 1.9%, while the domestically focused small-cap Russell 2000 added 1.7%.
The broader banking index rose 2.0% after hitting a two-month low last week.
Value stocks, which include banks, energy and other economically sensitive sectors and have led gains in US equities so far this year, outperformed their growth-oriented technology counterparts.
The trend was a stark reversal from last week when the Fed’s hawkish signals on monetary policy sparked a round of profit taking that wiped out value stocks’ lead over growth this month and triggered the worst weekly performance for the Dow and the S&P 500 in months.
“The market is realizing that we’re still largely the same economy where we have inflationary forces, a lot of stimulus, and that’s good for value stocks, not growth stocks,” said Max Gokhman, head of asset allocation at Pacific Life Fund Advisors in Newport Beach, California.
The S&P 500 has traded in a tight range this month as investors juggled fears of an overheating economy with optimism about a strong economic rebound.
Focus this week will be on US factory activity surveys, home sales data and remarks from several Fed officials, including Chair Jerome Powell, who testifies before Congress on Tuesday.
At 11:31 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 508.94 points, or 1.53%, at 33,799.02, the S&P 500 was up 48.42 points, or 1.16%, at 4,214.87, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 81.30 points, or 0.58%, at 14,111.68.
Crypto stocks including miners Riot Blockchain, Marathon Patent Group and crypto exchange Coinbase Global dropped between 3% and 4% on China’s expanding crackdown on bitcoin mining.
Moderna Inc gained about 3.6% after a report said the drugmaker is adding two new production lines at a Covid-19 vaccine manufacturing plant, in a bid to prepare for making more booster shots.
Market participants are also girding for probably the biggest trading event of the year this Friday, as the FTSE Russell rebalance its indexes that will reflect a wild trading year marked by the pandemic and the “meme” stock craze.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.86-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.35-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 17 new 52-week highs and no new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 47 new highs and 41 new lows.
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