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U.S. EQUITIES START THE WEEK WITH A BOUNCE BACK

The S&P 500 closed almost 1.5% higher on Monday as investors charged back into the market after four days of losses including Friday's sell-off, which was the biggest one-day drop since April 21.

With the S&P 500 .SPX, the Nasdaq .IXIC and the Dow .DJI all registering their biggest one-day gains since May 27, post-sell-off bargain hunting seemed to be the biggest reason for the rally, with very little big news released on the day. The Russell 2000 .RUT also joined the fray on Monday with a 2.1% gain, marking its strongest day since May 27.

But Mark Hackett, chief market strategist at Nationwide said there was a tug-of-war unfolding between traditional seasonality, which would suggest a weaker market, and retail investors who view dips as buying opportunities.

"It’s a good test for who’s really in control," he said, adding that the "setup into fall favors the bull case with potential rate cuts and strong corporate earnings laying the groundwork for a renewed rally into year-end and a fresh slate for 2026."

Ten of the S&P 500's eleven major industry sector indexes gained some ground on the day with Communications Services .SPLRCL standing out from the crowd with a 2.6% advance. Under that hood, Meta Platforms META.O, Alphabet GOOGL.O, GOOG.O and Netflix NFLX.O contributed most enthusiastically.

The runner-up sector was Technology .SPLRCT, which added 2.2%, with its biggest boosts from usual suspects, Nvidia NVDA.O, Microsoft MSFT.O, and Broadcom AVGO.O. On the other end of the scale, the Energy sector .SPNY fell 0.4% on a day when oil futures CLc1 dropped more than $1.

Other big name stocks changing hands on Monday included Class A shares of renowned investor Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway BRKa.N, which fell 2.6% as investors fretted over a $3.8 billion write-down and a dip in quarterly operating profit that the firm disclosed on Saturday.

For the day ahead, investors were waiting for results from Caterpillar CAT.N and Advanced Micro Devices AMD.O.

Here is your closing snapshot:

(Sinéad Carew)

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EARLIER ON LIVE MARKETS:

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WALL STREET REGAINS SOME LOST GROUND CLICK HERE

S&P 500 INDEX: TRADERS ASSESS THE DAMAGE CLICK HERE

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BUY THE DIP, WE CAN WORRY ABOUT JOBS LATER CLICK HERE

((sinead.carew@gmail.com))