Stocks surge, Dow closes up 586 points

NEW YORK, NY — U.S. stocks rallied Monday and clawed back most of their sharp loss from last week.

The Dow surged to close up 586.57 points or 1.76%. The S&P 500 — the broadest measure of Wall Street — snapped 1.4% higher and the tech-focused Nasdaq Composite also rose for the day.

The Dow snapped a five-day losing streak, its longest since January, while the S&P saw its first gain in four days — its longest losing streak since February.

Oil producers, banks and other companies that were hit particularly hard last week made the biggest gains. High-growth tech stocks lagged. Shorter-term yields fell, and longer-term yields rose in another reversal from last week’s initial reaction to the Fed Reserve Board saying it may raise interest rates twice by late 2023.

Higher interest rates are perceived as negative for stocks even if they come on the coattails of a stronger economy because they would mean higher borrowing costs for companies.

Pain in the crypto-verse

But it wasn’t all rallies and green arrows Monday. Bitcoin dipped nearly 7%, dropping to its lowest level in about two weeks. One bitcoin bought more than $32,300, according to Coindesk data.

The drop came on the back of China cracking down further on cryptocurrencies, both in terms of mining bitcoin and trading digital currencies.

“Bitcoin needs to expedite transitioning mining out of China,” said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda.