Dow, S&P snap 5-day losing streak, Nasdaq closes lower

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - The Dow Jones and the S&P 500 snapped their 5-day losing streak with a higher closing on Monday, but the Nasdaq finished in negative territory despite a strong start to the session.

The blue-chip Dow soared 261 points, or 0.76%, to close at 34,869 with strong gains of oil majors and investment banking firms. While JPMorgan rose 1.6%, Goldman Sachs added 1.4%.

ExxonMobil and Chevron rose 2.6% and 2%, respectively, while ConocoPhillips jumped 3.3% amid rising oil prices. Price of Brent crude gained 1% to $73.65 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate added 1.3% to $70.66.

The S&P 500 was up 10 points, or 0.23%, to 4,468 at the final bell with Tesla increasing 0.9%.

The Nasdaq, on the other hand, was down almost 10 points, or 0.07%, to 15,105. Although the tech-heavy index started the day with gains, it was pharmaceutical companies that dragged the Nasdaq. Modena was down 6.6%, while Novavax fell 3.5%.

With investors' confidence restored, VIX volatility index, also known as the fear index, plummeted 7.5% to 19.37. The yield on 10-year US Treasury notes was down 1.2% to 1.324%.

The dollar index, however, was still up 0.06% to 92.64.

Precious metals were also positive with gold adding 0.3% to $1,793 per ounce, and silver rising slightly by 0.05% to $23.75.

Investors will follow the consumer price index (CPI) for August that will be released Tuesday before market opening.

CPI and core CPI figures are closely watched by the Federal Reserve for inflation, and they will be taken into careful consideration during the central bank's meeting on Sept. 21-22.