U.S. stocks ended higher on Monday after heavy losses on Friday, as investors meditated on low oil prices in a holiday-shortened trading week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 123.07 points, or 0.72 percent, to 17,251.62. The S&P 500 added 15.60 points, or 0.78 percent, to 2,021.15. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 45.84 points, or 0.93 percent, to 4,968.92. There is no major economic report due out Monday.
Some analysts believed Monday's rally is a technical recovery from last week's sharp sell-off. Wall Street focused on oil's continued decline. Brent oil price hit an 11-year low Monday as market worried that global supplies exceed the demand.
As it will take years to wash out the whole supply in oil market and reach the balance point where supply meets demand, many analysts do not expect oil prices will rebound soon. Overseas, European equities decreased broadly on Monday, with Germany's benchmark DAX index at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange going down 1.04 percent, as the weakness in oil prices continued to trouble investors.
In Asia, Chinese stocks surged on Monday as heavyweight financial stocks led the gains, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index climbing 1.77 percent. The U.S. stocks market will close early Thursday for Christmas Eve, and will be shut on Friday for Christmas Day. U.S. stocks tumbled for the second straight session Friday, as falling oil prices weighed on Wall Street sentiment.
The CBOE Volatility Index, often referred to as Wall Street's fear gauge, decreased 9.66 percent to end at 18.70 on Monday. In other markets, the U.S. dollar declined against most major currencies amid thin trading in holiday season. In late New York trading, the euro climbed to 1.0921 dollars from 1.0862 dollars in the previous session, while the dollar bought 121.05 Japanese yen, lower than 121.28 yen of the previous session.
Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose as the U.S. dollar showed weakness. The most active gold contract for February delivery rose 15.6 dollars, or 1.46 percent, to settle at 1,080.60 dollars per ounce.
Latest comments