Technology Companies Drive A Broad Rally on Wall Street

Technology companies powered a rally on Wall Street Monday that gave the market its third straight gain.

The surge in tech stocks followed a decision by the U.S. to give Chinese telecom giant Huawei another 90 days to buy equipment from American suppliers. Chipmakers including Qualcomm, Intel and Micron, all rose.

The decision to give Huawei more time to buy goods from U.S. companies appeared to put investors eager for any signs of progress in the trade war between the U.S. and China in a buying mood.

The buying went well beyond technology, with communication services stocks, health care companies and retailers notching solid gains. Financial stocks also rose as bond prices headed lower, sending yields higher. Energy stocks climbed following a 2.4% increase in U.S. crude oil prices.

The S&P 500 climbed 34.97 points, or 1.2%, to 2,923.65. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 249.78 points, or 1%, to 26,135.79. The index briefly gained 336 points.

The Nasdaq, which is heavily weighted with technology stocks, rose 106.82 points, or 1.3%, to 8,002.81.

Smaller company stocks also had a good day. The Russell 2000 index gained 15.21 points, or 1%, to 1,508.85.

Major stock indexes in Europe also finished solidly higher.

The market’s moves on Monday suggested investors’ anxiety took a back seat to optimism over the U.S.’s decision on Huawei, at least for a day.

This could be seen in the bond market, where yields rose. That’s a reversal from much of August, when yields mostly fell as investors sought out the safety of government bonds as the U.S.-China conflict escalated. On Monday, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note climbed to 1.61% from 1.54% late Friday.

The rise in bond yields helped drive financial stocks higher. Wells Fargo added 1.9% and Citigroup rose 1.3%.

Investors are weighing how much of an impact the trade conflict between Washington and Beijing will have on global economies, some of which are already showing signs of slowing.

Investors greeted the Trump administration’s decision to extend a limited reprieve on U.S. sales to Huawei as a positive sign. Nvidia jumped 7%, Qualcomm added 2.2%, Micron Technology gained 3.4% and Intel picked up 1.6%.

Apple rose 1.9% on news that CEO Tim Cook met with President Trump over the weekend and discussed how U.S. tariffs on goods imported from China are making it tougher for the iPhone maker to compete with rival Samsung.

Big department store chains also rose Monday, recovering some of the ground lost last week after Macy’s slashed its profit forecast for the year. Nordstrom gained 3.1% and Gap added 4.4%. Macy’s rose 0.9%.

This week offers investors a couple of opportunities to gauge the Federal Reserve’s willingness to cut interest rates further. The central bank is releasing the minutes from its last meeting of policymakers Wednesday. Two days later, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell is scheduled to deliver a speech at the central bank’s annual conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Traders will be weighing new data on sales of new U.S. homes Friday and earnings reports from several big retailers this week.