Publications
Partners
New York - Wall Street stocks finished solidly higher on Monday, joining most global equity markets that gained on easing concerns about North Korea.
Pentagon chief Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in an opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal that the United States favours a diplomatic solution to the stand-off with Pyongyang, especially with help from China, though they stressed diplomacy is "backed by military options."
Investors greeted the more conciliatory tone after US stocks dropped three days in a row last week on President Donald Trump's vow of "fire and fury" if North Korea continued to pursue its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.
"The sell-off was triggered mostly by the heated rhetoric over North Korea. The president used some language that shocked many investors," said Alan Skrainka, chief investment officer of Cornerstone Wealth Management.
"It was an immediate reaction from investors to concerns that a military action was possible and now people are taking the issue more in stride."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.6% to 21 993.44.
The broad-based S&P 500 rose 1.0% to 2 465.82, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 1.3% to 6 340.23.
Banks were strong, with JPMorgan Chase gaining 1.1%, Goldman Sachs adding 1.5% and Bank of America up 2.3%.
Technology shares were also mostly up, with Apple, Amazon and Facebook all advancing about 1.5%.
But energy shares were under pressure as oil prices tumbled. Apache and Devon Energy both lost nearly two percent and Dow member Chevron declined 0.5%.
SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE UPDATE: Get Fin24's top morning business news and opinions in your inbox.
Read Fin24's top stories trending on Twitter: Fin24’s top stories
