A trader works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., March 4, 2020. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
A trader works on the floor at the NYSE in New York
Reuters
  • The Dow jumped more than 400 points on Monday as interest rates fell from last week’s highs.
  • The yield on the 10-Year US Treasury note was around 1.43% on Monday, down from a high of more than 1.53% last week. 
  • Johnson & Johnson began distributing its newly approved COVID-19 vaccine on Monday, boosting hopes of a swift economic reopening in the coming months.
  • Sign up here for our daily newsletter, 10 Things Before the Opening Bell.

A cool down in interest rates helped boost stocks on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining more than 400 points at the open.

The 10-Year US Treasury yielded about 1.43% early Monday, well below last week’s high of more than 1.53%. Rising interest rates and fears of inflation helped spark a stock market sell-off last week, especially in technology names.

Here’s where US indexes stood after the 9:30 a.m. ET open on Monday:

Investor hope for a swift economic reopening in the coming months is on the rise as Johnson and Johnson begins to distributes millions of doses of its COVID-19 vaccine. The one-dose vaccine received emergency use authorization from the FDA last week.

Biden’s $1.9 trillion fiscal stimulus plan is likely to dominate headlines over the next two weeks ahead of its expected passage in the Senate, after the house passed the bill on Friday.

Investor focus turned to Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett over the weekend, after the firm released its 2020 annual shareholder letter. In the letter, Buffett highlighted a big mistake Berkshire made regarding its purchase of Precision Castparts, and reiterated his view that investors should never bet against America.

Reddit investors sought to reignite momentum in 'meme stocks' like GameStop and AMC Entertainment, with both surging in early Monday trades.

Oil prices were higher. West Texas Intermediate crude jumped as much as 0.2%, to $61.58 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, rose by 0.47%, to $64.72 per barrel.

Gold jumped 0.63%, to $1,739.10 per ounce.

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