Stocks marched broadly higher on Wall Street, snapping a five-day losing streak for the S&P 500 index and more in Monday’s Stock Market Update.
Technology companies accounted for much of the broad rally. Apple climbed after an analyst upgrade while Nvidia surged after agreeing to buy chipmaker Mellanox. Social media stocks also rose. A sharp decline in Boeing stemmed the gain for the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
A government report that showed a slight increase in retail sales for January that beat forecasts after a steep decline in December helped lift the market.
Stocks are coming off their worst week since December. Still, the major indexes are enjoying gains of 9 percent or more for the year so far.
Boeing’s stock slumped following the second deadly crash involving the newest version of the aircraft maker’s popular 737. Despite Boeing’s decline, the industrial sector managed to post a gain.
Investors are still waiting for more details on any potential trade deal between the U.S. and China. Costly tariffs have hurt both nations and investors hope a deal can be struck to at least take some pressure off the global economy, which has shown signs of cooling off.
STOCK MARKET UPDATE
ANALYST’S TAKE: Investors drew encouragement from the positive U.S. retail sales report and new data showing a rebound in Chinese exports this month, said Tom Martin, senior portfolio manager with Globalt Investments.
“The data that’s coming in today is at the margin at least OK; there’s no negative news,” Martin said. “People want to be in the market. Rates are low. Stocks are OK.”
KEEPING SCORE: The S&P 500 gained 40 points, or 1.5 percent, to 2,783. The Nasdaq, heavily weighted with tech stocks, jumped 149 points, or 2 percent, to 7,558. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 200 points, or 0.8 percent, to 25,650. A sharp drop in Boeing shares restrained the Dow’s advance.
Major European stock indexes finished higher.
BOEING FALLS: Boeing slid 5.8 percent amid the fallout from a second deadly crash involving the aircraft maker’s important 737 Max 8. The 737 is Boeing’s most popular plane and the Max is its newest version.
Boeing’s stock has been soaring since the beginning of the year, but plunged Monday after the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines jetliner that killed 157 people. Back in October, another 737 Max 8 crashed in Indonesia, killing 189 people.
Authorities in Ethiopia, China and Indonesia have grounded all Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft.
BANKING MERGER?: Deutsche Bank rose 5 percent following reports that it agreed to hold merger talks with rival Commerzbank.
CHIPS ON THE TABLE: Nvidia jumped 7.3 percent after the chipmaker said it will buy network transmission company Mellanox for $6.9 billion in cash.
The companies are frequent collaborators and said that together they help to power more than 250 of the world’s 500 supercomputers, including Sierra and Summit, operated by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Nvidia led the broad rally in technology stocks. Apple gained 3.5 percent.
DIGGING DEEP: Transocean gained 5.8 percent after the oil driller won two new contracts from Petrobras for projects in Brazil.
FEELING GOOD: Gains in health care stocks also helped drive the market higher. Align Technology rose 5.5 percent.
ME, ME, ME: Social media companies notched gains. Facebook added 1.8 percent and Twitter picked up 2.6 percent.
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