Stocks close higher, Dow rallies 300 points as optimism over earnings outweighs higher rates: Live updates

Stocks closed higher Monday as traders awaited a deluge of corporate earnings reports and shrugged off a rise in Treasury yields.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded 314.25 points higher, or 0.93% to close at 33,984.54, marking its best day since September. The S&P 500 climbed 1.06% to end the day at 4,373.63, while the Nasdaq Composite added 1.2% to 13,567.98.

Nike and Travelers Companies led the Dow higher on Monday with advances of around 2.1%. All 11 S&P 500 sectors traded higher in the session.

Earnings season heats up this week with 11% of the S&P 500 slated to report results. Some notable names on deck include Johnson & Johnson, Bank of America, Netflix and Tesla.

Those results will follow a solid start to the reporting period. Brokerage Charles Schwab rallied 4.7% on Monday after surpassing Wall Street expectations for earnings per share in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and UnitedHealth rose Friday after posting their latest quarterly results.

Some on Wall Street are bracing for more volatility into year end amid rising yields and oil prices, sticky inflation and conflict in the Middle East. But a focus on earnings can give investors optimism in the short term, said Lisa Erickson, senior vice president at U.S. Bank Wealth Management.

“I really see a relief rally going on,” said Erickson, citing recent earnings reports and a “digestion” of interest rate moves. “Sentiment has just turned relatively more positive.”

Over the weekend, Israel’s military continued urging residents to evacuate northern Gaza amid a widely anticipated ground invasion. Secretary of State Antony Blinken promised U.S. support in a meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Monday.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield rose around 8 basis points to 4.712% on Monday, while oil prices slipped as investors parsed the latest updates out of the war.

Monday’s advance follows a mixed week for stocks. The S&P 500 advanced 0.5% for its second consecutive positive week, while the Dow gained 0.8%. The Nasdaq Composite lost about 0.2% for the week.

“Last week was clearly a shock reaction to the geopolitical surprise,” said Aoifinn Devitt, chief investment officer of Moneta Group. “We’re normalizing the turmoil … and factoring it in, and then we’re kind of getting back to fundamentals.”