By Yasin Ebrahim

Investing.com – The S&P 500 closed higher Monday, as easing fears about the impact of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 renewed investor bets on cyclical stocks, while a intraday rebound in tech also pushed the broader market higher.

It rose by 1.2%. The Nasdaq gained 1.9% (646 points), and the Nasdaq fell 0.9%.  

Recent updates regarding the Omicron virus variant indicate that the strain may be less dangerous than originally thought, which should reduce investor worries about potential economic consequences.

“[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 has pushed the cyclical stocks (including 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 received a Morgan Stanley upgrade, which aided in rising Treasury yields.

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.”

There was an increase in activity in reopening markets, such as airlines and cruise lines. 

American Airlines (NASDAQ;), Carnival (NYSE :), Wynn Resortss (NASDAQ 🙂 stock were all significantly higher. 

Technology soared as investors bought tech stocks to offset the market crash.

Nvidia (NASDAQ) suffered a decline of about 3% due to semiconductor stock. This added to previous losses.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:) climbed more than 1 percent after Cowen increased its price target to $99 instead of $80. This is due to growing memory demand as well tight supplies expected to boost the company’s performance.

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

Lucid Group dropped 5% following a subpoena by the Securities and Exchange Commission in relation to its merger with Churchill Capital Corp.

Tesla reported that it cut its losses and ended flat despite the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission launching a probe of whistleblower claims that Tesla failed to notify shareholders of defects in solar panels. Reuters cited a letter from this agency.