Traders gather for the opening of LinkedIn Corp. at the post where it is traded on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, NY, U.S. June 13, 2016. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
NEW YORK: Wall Street opened sharply higher on Monday, with the S&P and the Dow recovering last week’s losses, after polls over the weekend showed an increased possibility of Britain remaining in the European Union.
Global markets went into a tizzy last week as investors unsure over the fallout of Britain’s vote on Thursday fled to safe-haven assets such as the yen and gold.
However, polls showed that the “Remain” campaign had gathered favour over the weekend, causing a rebound in the British pound.
Oil prices were on track to mark their largest two-day rise in a month as investor confidence in the risky asset rose and the strength of the dollar weakened.
“Everyone is going to hold their breath until Thursday or Friday, when we get to know the result of the British referendum,” said Adam Hewison, chief executive of Ino.com in Maryland.
At 9:35am ET (1335 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 227.81 points, or 1.29%, at 17,902.97. The index was on track to post its biggest intraday rise in nearly four months.
The S&P 500 was up 23.97 points, or 1.16%, at 2,095.19.
The Nasdaq Composite was up 59.50 points, or 1.24%, at 4,859.84.
All 10 major S&P indexes were higher, led by a 1.33% rise in financials.
Goldman Sachs’ 2.4% jump to US$149.1 gave the biggest boost to the Dow.
While equities rebounded, safe havens retreated. Gold fell more than 1%. Barrick Gold, the world’s largest gold producer, was down 3.6% while Newmont Mining was off 2.2% on Monday.
Apple was up 0.9% at US$96.22 on Monday, the biggest influencer on the S&P and the Nasdaq. The tech giant’s stock had fallen 2.2% on Friday after a dispute in China over a iPhone patent.
GlaxoSmithKline rose 4.3% to US$42.07 after the company said a drug met a late-stage study goals.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 2,424 to 275. On the Nasdaq, 2,033 issues rose and 340 fell.
The S&P 500 index showed 22 new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 27 new highs and six new lows. - Reuters
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