US shares come roaring back, end with solid gains
Wall Street equities staged a stunning rebound on Monday with gains of more than two percent, recouping some of the losses of the past weeks that led to the worst month for the market in 20 years. The Dow Jones jumped more than 760 points or 2.7 percent to 29,490. The S&P 500 gained 2.6 percent to 3,678, while the Nasdaq rose 2.3 percent to 10,815. A key manufacturing survey showing price pressures receding and demand slowing, helped buoy market sentiment, amid resurging hopes the Federal Reserve might soon pull back on its aggressive interest rate hikes. Investors remain concerned about the Fed's policy tightening as it battles to bring down the highest inflation in 40 years, even as a top central banker repeated the message that high costs are broad-based and will take time to bring down. "It is too early to call for a Fed pivot, but it seems ... traders are growing confident that the global growth slowdown is starting to drag down pricing pressures," OANDA analyst Edward Moya said. The Institute for Supply Management said its manufacturing index dropped 1.9 points to 50.9 percent, just barely above the 50-percent threshold indicating expansion and the weakest result since May 2020. But the prices index fell to the lowest since June 2020. In individual stocks, Tesla shares dropped 8.6 percent after the electric carmaker on Friday reported that while vehicle deliveries increased in the latest quarter, the total was at the low end of expectations. (AFP)