U.S. stocks rally as financials lead rebound

NEW YORK, May 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks rallied on Monday, reclaiming some of the heavy losses they had suffered recently, bolstered by solid gains in bank shares.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 618.34 points, or 1.98 percent, to 31,880.24. The S&P 500 increased 72.39 points, or 1.86 percent, to 3,973.75. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 180.65 points, or 1.59 percent, to 11,535.27.

All the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in green, with financials and energy up 3.23 percent and 2.68 percent, respectively, leading the gains.

Shares of Dow component JPMorgan Chase surged more than 6 percent after the bank giant raised its outlook for interest income, a key measure of profitability.

Other financial stocks including Goldman Sachs, American Express, Visa, Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Bank of America also closed noticeably higher.

Investors are awaiting the Federal Reserve's latest meeting minutes slated for Wednesday release and this week's economic highlights including the April U.S. durable goods orders data and personal consumption expenditures readings.

U.S. equities have been under tremendous pressure recently amid growing concerns that aggressive central bank policy tightening to curb inflation may tip the economy into recession.

For the week ending Friday, the Dow slid 2.9 percent, notching its eighth straight negative week. The S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq shed 3 percent and 3.8 percent, respectively, for their seventh consecutive losing week.