Stocks rise broadly on Wall Street, travel companies rebound

Stocks are solidly higher on Wall Street in afternoon trading Monday, aided by a broad rally that includes a mix of travel-related companies that stand to benefit from more reopening of the economy.

The S&P 500 rose 1.2% as of 3:41 p.m. Eastern, on pace to make up nearly all of its loss last week. More than 85% of stocks in the index gained ground, with technology companies and banks accounting for a large slice of the gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 644 points, or 1.9%, to 35,345 and the Nasdaq rose 0.9%.

Small-company stocks outpaced the broader market, sending the Russell 2000 index 2.3% higher.

Wall Street was encouraged by comments from Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House’s chief medical adviser, who said early indications suggested that the omicron variant of COVID-19 may be less dangerous than the delta variant. It will still take a few weeks to learn whether omicron is more contagious, causes more severe illness or evades immunity.

Airlines, cruise operators and a wide range of travel-related companies made solid gains. Norwegian Cruise Line vaulted 9.9% for the biggest gain in the S&P 500. Rivals Carnival and Royal Caribbean jumped 8.5% and 8.3%, respectively.

Delta Air Lines climbed 6.4%, while United Airlines gained 8.3%. Expedia Group rose 10.6%. The travel industry has been under pressure over concerns about the latest coronavirus variant and the potential for it to crimp economic activity in the midst of the busy holiday season.

Shares of vaccine makers Moderna, Pfizer and BioNTech all fell.

Bond yields rose, which benefits banks that rely on higher yields to charge more lucrative interest on loans. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 1.43% from 1.33% late Friday. JPMorgan Chase rose 1.2%.

U.S. crude oil prices rose 4.9% and...