US Stocks Rally after Negative Sessions

U.S. stocks rose in early trading Monday, shaking off another retreat in oil prices as the market sought to regain momentum after two consecutive down sessions late last week.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 122.77, or 0.72 percent, to 17,251.32. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 14.83, or 0.74 percent, to 2,020.38. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index climbed 37.64, or 0.76 percent, to 4,960.73.

Early gainers included JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, as well as Microsoft and Google parent Alphabet. All were up between 1 and 1.6 percent. Disney was down 1.7 percent despite reporting that its film “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” generated an estimated $238 million in U.S. and Canadian box office sales, shattering the previous opening-weekend record by about $30 million.
The dollar index extended losses against major world currencies. Light sweet crude oil for January delivery fell 50 cents to $34.23 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while gold futures increased $13.30 to $1,078.30 an ounce.