By Yasin Ebrahim
Investing.com – The Dow closed sharply higher Monday, helped by a strong showing for the banks and technology after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi renewed investor hopes for a further coronavirus stimulus.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.51%, or 410 points. The S&P 500 was up 1.66%, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.66%.
Financials surged on a strong rally in banking stocks as renewed hopes that Congress could still agree a deal on stimulus maintained investor expectations that the pace of economic recovery can continue.
JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), and Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) rose more than 2%, while Citigroup (NYSE:C) ended 3% higher.
“We can get this done,” Pelosi said Monday on MSNBC, referring to Democrats $2.4 trillion aid package, though admitted that the White House will have to agree to "much more spending."
The proposed fiscal package would include unemployment benefits, direct payments to households and small business loans as well as aid for airlines.
Airlines rallied sharply, lifting industrials higher, with Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) and United Airlines (NASDAQ:UAL), up more than 5%. United Airlines also received a boost after the carrier said its pilots agreed to reduce their working hours to avoid furloughs that were set to begin in October.
Tech, meanwhile, pushed the broader market higher. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), which together make up a quarter weighting of the S&P 500, helped tech build on its gains from last week.
In other news, Uber Technologies (NYSE:UBER) was granted a new license to operate in London after winning its appeal against London’s transport authority, Transport for London, sending its shares 3% higher.
Caesars Entertainment (NASDAQ:CZR) added 2% after tabling a £2.9 billion to buy sports betting site William Hill.
The strong day of gains on Wall Street comes ahead of a widely expected bout volatility as President Trump and Democratic presidential hopeful former Vice President Joe Biden are set to square off in their first of three debates starting from Tuesday. The U.S. general election is just 36 days away.