Market opening today | US stocks higher; Dow is plus-400

By ALEX VEIGA

AP Business Writer

U.S. stocks rose sharply in early trading Monday as the market made up some of its huge losses from last week. The broad gains sent the Dow Jones industrial average up more than 400 points after losing more than 1,400 last week. Investors drew encouragement from signs that the U.S. and China are open to negotiating to avert a potential trade war. Technology and financial stocks, which took some of the biggest losses last week, accounted for much of the market’s broad gains.

KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 43 points, or 1.7 percent, to 2,631 as of 10:07 a.m. Eastern Time. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 429 points, or 1.8 percent, to 23,962. The Nasdaq added 129 points, or 1.9 percent, to 7,121. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks picked up 15 points, or 1.1 percent, to 1,526.

TARIFFS AND TRADE: Last week, global stock markets fell sharply amid fears of a trade war after President Donald Trump announced duties on $60 billion worth of Chinese goods in a dispute over technology policy. On Friday, Beijing released a $3 billion list of U.S. goods targeted for possible retaliation over an earlier U.S. tariff hike on steel and aluminum imports. That prompted fears the spat might depress trade worldwide and set back the global economic recovery.

POTENTIAL COMPROMISE: China’s government said it is open to negotiating with Washington following a news report indicating that U.S. officials have submitted a list of market-opening requests. A foreign ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, didn’t confirm the report by The Wall Street Journal but said at a regular briefing, “Our door for dialogue and discussion is always open.” The Journal said U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and China’s economic czar, Vice Premier Liu He, were leading negotiations. It said American market-opening requests as a possible condition of a settlement covered the auto, finance and semiconductor industries.

TECH RALLY: Technology companies recouped some of the sectors lefty losses last week. Microsoft climbed $5.13, or 5.9 percent, to $92.32.

BETTING ON BANKS: Financial stocks surged as bond yields rose. Higher yields are good for banks, because they drive up interest rates on mortgages and other loans, making them more profitable for lenders. Bank of America added 95 cents, or 3.3 percent, to $30.13.

ON THE WAY OUT: Lowe’s jumped 7.1 percent after the home-improvement retailer said Chairman and CEO Robert Niblock is retiring. The stock gained $5.91 to $89.68.

NOT SAVING FACE: Shares in Facebook continued to slide as the social media giant faces new questions about collecting phone numbers and text messages from Android devices. The stock declined $2.52, or 1.6 percent, to $156.87.

BOND YIELDS: Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 2.84 percent from 2.81 percent late Friday.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude fell 28 cents to $65.60 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, used to price international oils, shed 23 cents to $69.58 in London.

CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 105.20 yen from 104.82 yen on Friday. The euro strengthened to $1.2431 from $1.2367.

MARKETS OVERSEAS: In Europe, Germany’s DAX was up 0.2 percent, while France’s CAC-40 added 0.3 percent. Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 0.3 percent. In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 added 0.7 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.7 percent. Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 fell 0.5 percent. Seoul’s Kospi gained 0.8 percent. India’s Sensex rose 0.3 percent.