US stocks finish higher after last week’s rout

Trader Steven Kaplan, center, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Aug. 4, 2014. US stocks rose Monday, recovering some ground lost last week when the S&P 500 notched its biggest weekly decline since mid-2012. AP

NEW YORK–US stocks rose Monday, recovering some ground lost last week when the S&P 500 notched its biggest weekly decline since mid-2012.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 75.91 points (0.46 percent) at 16,569.28.

The S&P 500 rose 13.84 (0.72 percent) to 1,938.99, while the Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 31.25 (0.72 percent) to 4,383.89.

US stocks have stubbornly resisted a large correction for more than two years, as buyers have emerged at points of weakness throughout that time.

All three major indices dropped more than two percent last week.

Traders on Monday engaged in “bargain hunting” after last week’s sharp losses, said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital.

Cardillo expects light trading volumes this week given that many Wall Street investors are on holiday and that there will be fewer major economic or corporate earnings reports compared with last week.

Many leading technology stocks posted impressive gains, including Amazon (+2.2 percent), Priceline (+4.3 percent) and Yahoo (+2.6 percent).

Dow component McDonald’s finished flat after the fast-food chain said it was experiencing a “significant negative impact” on sales in China, Japan and some other markets following a food-safety scandal involving a Chinese food supplier.

Michael Kors Holdings, an apparel maker and retailer, dropped 5.9 percent as its forecast for the upcoming quarter of 85-87 cents per share fell shy of the 89 cents analysts had projected.

Biotechnology company Amgen rose 2.5 percent on news of a successful trial for its Kyprolis treatment for relapsed multiple myeloma. Patients treated with the medication lived almost nine months longer than those treated with another regime, Amgen said.

Power company Entergy, meanwhile, shed 0.8 percent following a Jefferies report that said the utility could be forced to shut its Indian Point nuclear plant for up to 92 days a year by New York state.

Bond prices were mixed. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury bond dipped to 2.49 percent from 2.50 percent Friday, while the 30-year held steady at 3.30 percent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.