US stocks rally and recover most of last week's losses as oil prices swing lower

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market rallied Monday and recovered most of its big loss from last week as oil prices swung lower. The strength came even though Nvidia, one of Wall Street’s most influential stocks, sank.

The S&P 500 jumped 2.3% for a second straight gain following a wipeout on worries that Democratic victories in the U.S. midterm elections could lead to a slowdown in the construction of AI data centers. The best day for the index since April has it sitting just 3.4% below its all-time high set last month.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average leaped 1,104 points, or 2.2%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 2.7%.

Stocks broadly got a lift from a 5.8% drop for the price of a barrel of Brent crude to $92.57. It’s been coming down from more than $112 at the start of the month amid uncertainty about what will happen with the war with Iran.

The latest leg lower came after President Donald Trump told CNN over the weekend that a resumption of strikes is “highly unlikely” if the United States sees progress in negotiations, though U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that Iranian demands for ending the war had sometimes been “outrageous and ridiculous.”

Several strong profit reports from big U.S. companies also helped lift the stock market.

Constellation Energy climbed 10.5% after the power company reported both profit and revenue for the summer that topped analysts’ expectations. It’s been benefiting from deals announced recently to power data centers for Big Tech companies.

Those data centers, and the blame they’re getting from voters for increases in power bills, are coming under increased scrutiny following Democratic victories in statehouses across the country in last week’s election. The worry is that governments could impose restrictions on the industry, which would mean fewer purchases of artificial-intelligence chips, electricity and other products and services around the AI boom.