Wall Street closes much higher
Dow Jones up 670 pts
Tech sector surges
Microsoft up over 7%
US stocks posted big gains on Monday as the market shrugged of trade war fears and chose to embrace risk.
Earlier, a strong pound put paid to FTSE 100's chances of a higher finish, with the index closing over 33 points lower, along with other European indices.
But in Wall Street it was the best day since 2015, with the Dow Jones closed 670 points higher at 24,203.
The broader Based S&P 500 added over 70 points at 2,658
The Nasdaq gained over 227 points at 7,220.
Tech stocks by far and away were the biggest risers, with Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) up 7.57% to US$93.78. Twitter (NASDAQ:TWTR) gained 2.77% to US$31.91, while Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), the world's most valuable firm, added 4.75% to US$127.77. Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) added 4.03% to US$1,555.86.
In Toronto, the TSX added around 69 points at 15,293, while the TSX Venture lost around a point at 816.61.
KA-CHING: Microsoft shares surge after Morgan Stanley predicts it will reach $1 trillion market cap in a year https://t.co/aBPahzSLnM
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) 26 March 2018
MID-SESSION
US stocks were still tearing higher at mid-session, with the Dow Jones up over 470 points at 24,003.
The S&P 500 added over 44 points at 2,632m, while the Nasdaq added 128 points at 7,120.
In Toronto, the TSX was down, with the index down 3.69 at 15,220.
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 1.48 points to 816.32
It came as the gold price added 0.36% to US$1, 360.60 an ounce and US benchmark crude oil - slipped 0.59% to US$65.48 per barrel.
In stocks, notable movers were Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ: VRNA), which added over 47% to US$23.59 as the firm revealed positive top-line data from Phase 2b clinical trial of RPL554 for treating chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Elsewhere, Akers Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:AKER) added over 15 % to US$0.92 as the firm inked a three-year national distribution deal with Diagnostica Stago for the former’s test for Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia, an adverse reaction to the blood thinner.
Protagonist Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:PTGX) shares plummeted over 57% to US$8.75 as the firm discontinued Phase 2b PROPEL trial of PTG-100 for the treatment of ulcerative colitis following interim analysis.
OPEN
Wall Street surged at the open as fears over the China/US trade war seem to have calmed down.
It comes after last week stocks had their worst in two years.
The Dow Jones added over 480 points at 24,013, while then S&P 500 added over 47 points at 2,635.
The tech heavy Nasdaq index gained around 142 points to stand at 7,135.
Among top gainers on the S&P 500 was computer titan Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), which added around 6% to US$92.50 a share after heavyweight broker Morgan Stanley raised the price target on the stock to US$130.
Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) shares shed around 2% to US$155.92.
Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive and president, placed full page adverts in a number of UK and US Sunday newspapers to apologise for the social media network’s data breach scandal.
The company has come under fire from lawmakers and users after it emerged that political consultancy Cambridge Analytica harvested data from millions of Facebook profiles without consent to influence election campaigns.
Trade war fears have abated after a report from The Wall Street Journal signaled that the two parties were in negotiations, it was reported.