By Yasin Ebrahim

Investing.com – The S&P 500 climbed Monday, led by a surge in cyclical stocks and turnaround in tech as positive updates on the Omicron variant of Covid-19 renewed investor optimism about the economic recovery.

They rose 1.5% and 2.2% respectively, while the Nasdaq increased 1.1%. The intraday record highs were reached by all three major averages.  

According to the latest information, the Omicron strain of coronavirus is not as deadly as feared. This should ease investor concerns about an economic downturn.

“[A]lthough it’s too early to make any definitive statements about it, thus far it does not look like there’s a great degree of severity to it,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, on CNN on Sunday.   

The recovery has been a source of renewed optimism, which helped push cyclical stocks such as financials and energy up.

A rebound in Treasury yields after a last-week rout saw banks and financial institutions benefit. The rise to 1.4% was a major boost for the sector.

First Republic Bank (NYSE:), State Street (NYSE:), Wells Fargo (NYSE:) were sharply up more than 3% as rising Treasury yields boosts the net interest margin of banks – the difference between the interest income generated by banks and the amount of interest paid out to depositors.

Wells Fargo also saw rising Treasury yields. The upgrade by Morgan Stanley was an added bonus.

Morgan Stanley elevated Wells Fargo from an equal weight to overweight amid higher Federal Reserve rates hikes.

After Saudi Arabia increased its selling price for oil exports to the U.S., and Asian markets, rising oil prices pushed energy higher.

“Today’s upswing was sparked by Saudi Arabia’s raising of its official selling prices at the weekend,” Commerzbank said in a note. “The world’s largest exporter will be charging a higher price premium for oil deliveries to Asia in January than in the previous month.”

The market was reopening, including the cruise lines and the hospitality sector. 

American Airlines (NASDAQ) and Carnival (NYSE:) were both significantly higher than Wynn Resorts, Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ), and American Airlines (NASDAQ). 

Technology jumped, contributing to the wider market meltdown as investors bought into the tech bubble.

However, semiconductor stocks weighed on technology as Nvidia’s (NASDAQ:) dropped about 3%, adding to the recent losses.

Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ) was up over 1% Cowen raised its price target for the stock from $80 to $99 to reflect growing demand for memory and tight supply. This will likely boost the stockmaker’s performance.

In electrical vehicle stocks Tesla (NASDAQ:) and Lucid (NASDAQ:) were among the biggest decliners following regulatory troubles.

Lucid Group lost 4% following a subpoena by the Securities and Exchange Commission in relation to its merger with Churchill Capital Corp.

Tesla fell 1% following a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into whistleblower claims that the company failed to inform shareholders about solar panel defect reports. Reuters reported, citing a correspondence from the commission.