Stocks rise solidly, led by technology companies and banks

Stocks were posting solid gains in afternoon trading Monday, following the market's steep declines the previous week.

Technology stocks were leading the broad gains. Banks and industrial companies, which were hit hard last week, were also among the biggest gainers.

The S&P 500 index was up 1.2% as of 12:39 p.m. Eastern. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 495 points, or 1.5%, to 33,785 and the technology-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.7%.

The gains were widely shared, with every sector and more than 90% of stocks in the benchmark S&P 500 moving higher. Smaller company stocks were outpacing the broader market in a signal that investors were feeling more confident heading into the week. The Russell 2000 index rose 2%.

Stocks fell sharply last week after Federal Reserve officials indicated that they were willing to start raising interest rates in 2022 or 2023, earlier than what the Fed had forecast previously. The change of outlook comes as the U.S. economy is recovering from the pandemic, but also being impacted by inflation for the first time in more than a decade.

The Fed also has begun talks about slowing its $120 billion of monthly bond purchases, which are helping to keep mortgages and other longer-term borrowing cheap. But the Fed’s chair has said such a tapering is still likely a ways away.

Any pullback in Fed support would be a big change for markets, which have been feasting on ultra-low rates for more than a year.

Investors will get a slew of economic data this week that will help give the market some direction, including another read on inflation on Friday. Other data out this week includes sales of previously occupied homes, manufacturing and a final reading on first quarter GDP.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.48% from 1.43% late Friday.

Corporate deals helped lift shares of some companies well beyond the markets gains. Industrial products maker Raven Industries jumped 50% on news it is being bought by CNH Industrial. Engineered products company Lydall surged 85% on news of its sale to Clearlake Capital-backed Unifrax.

Chipmaker Nvidia fell 2.9% as China’s biggest banks promised to refuse to help customers trade Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Nvidia makes chips for cryptocurrency mining.