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The markets staged a robust relief rally that saw all but two sectors – energy (-3.1%) and utilities (-0.7%) – finish in the green.
Boosting investor sentiment were headlines indicating that foreign ministers from Ukraine and Russia will meet in Turkey on Thursday – the first cabinet-level talks to be held between the two countries since the conflict began.
This follows reports Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday said he is open to a dialogue with Moscow.
"Within equity markets, all the areas of the market that have been hit the hardest recently are snapping back sharply," says Michael Reinking, senior market strategist for the New York Stock Exchange. This included financials, which rose 3.7% after "a few more European banks overnight provided updates on Russian exposure which were not as bad as some had feared," as Reinking explained.
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However, it was technology (+4.0%) that led the charge, with chip stocks Nvidia (NVDA, +7.0%) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD, +5.2%) among the biggest gainers.
At the close, all three major benchmarks had snapped their four-day losing streak, with the Nasdaq Composite up 3.6% at 13,255, the S&P 500 Index 2.6% higher at 4,277 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 2% to 33,286.
It was the Nasdaq's best day since November 2020 and was enough to pull the tech-heavy index out of a bear market. The S&P 500, meanwhile, had its biggest one-day gain since June 2020, while the Dow's advance moved it out of correction of correction territory.
YCharts
Other news in the stock market today:
Another big winner on Wall Street today: Bitcoin. The cryptocurrency jumped 11.3% to $41,807 (Bitcoin trades 24 hours a day; prices reported here are as of 4 p.m.) after President Biden signed an executive order aimed at regulating digital-asset transactions.
The administration outlined several objectives as part of an effort to assess digital assets at the federal level, which include financial inclusion and responsible innovation. The goal of the order is to help the U.S. "maintain technological leadership in this rapidly growing space," while "mitigating the risks for consumers, businesses, the broader financial system and the climate."
This regulation could continue to give cryptocurrencies a boost, says Anthony Denier, CEO of trading platform Webull. Digital assets have "definitely been at reputational risk for buying an asset class that is so volatile and derided. Oversight gives them a firmer ground to stand on."
There are plenty of ways for investors to gain exposure to the top cryptocurrencies too. In addition to stocks that are connected to crypto in some way, Wall Street is now flush with Bitcoin ETFs and other cryptocurrency funds. Read on as we highlight 17 funds focused on riding the crypto wave.
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