Wall Street gains on strong services sector data; Dow, S&P rise over 1%

A sharp jump in Covid-19 cases recently in the United States has cast a shadow over the strong rally in stocks as many states have curtailed their reopening plans

US stocks rose sharply on Monday as a rebound in US services industry activity in June and expectations of a revival in China's economy boosted optimism, helping investors look past a surge in new coronavirus cases in the United States.

A non-manufacturing activity index jumped to a reading of 57.1 last month, the highest since February, from 45.4 in May, according to a report from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM).

"These numbers are important, and it helps to explain the increase in consumer confidence," said Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at Prudential Financial in Newark, New Jersey.

Investors also bet on an improving Chinese economy and its impact on the global growth as the yuan led commodity currencies higher against the dollar. Earlier, Chinese stocks jumped more than 5%.

A slew of upbeat US data recently, including a record rise in monthly payrolls, has powered the Nasdaq to all-time highs and has driven the S&P 500 up roughly 44% from its March bottom.

The gains came despite a record surge in new Covid-19 cases in 16 states in the United States this month that could further hamper reopening plans and create a risk to the economic recovery.

Over the Independence Day weekend, several states reported a record increase in new infections, with Florida surpassing the highest daily tally reported by any European country during the peak of the outbreak there.Unofficially, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 459.47 points, or 1.78%, to 26,286.83, the S&P 500 gained 49.66 points, or 1.59%, to 3,179.67 and the Nasdaq Composite added 226.02 points, or 2.21%, to 10,433.65.

Online retail giant Amazon.com crossed $3,000 for the first time and provided the biggest boost to the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq.

Tesla Inc shares also jumped, rising for the fifth session as JPMorgan bumped up its price target for the electric carmaker's stock following better-than-expected quarterly deliveries.

Uber Technologies Inc climbed after theride-sharing company agreed to buy food-delivery app Postmates Inc in a $2.65-billion all-stock deal.