Financial Markets                      09/09 15:39

   

   NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. stocks climbed Monday to claw back some of the losses 
from their worst week in nearly a year and a half.

   The S&P 500 rallied 1.2%, though it didn't recoup all of its drop from 
Friday, let alone from the rest of the four-day losing streak that it broke. 
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 484 points, or 1.2%, and the Nasdaq 
composite gained 1.2%.

   Boeing climbed 3.4% after reaching a tentative deal with its largest union 
on a new contract that, if ratified, will avoid a strike that threatened to 
shut down aircraft production by the end of the week. Boeing said 33,000 
workers represented by the International Association of Machinists and 
Aerospace Workers would get pay raises of 25% over the four-year contract.

   Nvidia and other Big Tech companies also returned to their long-held 
position of leading the market, at least briefly. Nvidia climbed 3.5% and was 
the strongest force pushing the S&P 500 upward. That cut into its 13.9% tumble 
last week, as questions continued about whether its stock price went too high 
in investors' frenzy around artificial intelligence, even if Nvidia has 
continued to top analysts' expectations for growth.

   After likewise climbing a bit in the morning, Treasury yields later pared 
their gains. That followed sharp swings in the bond market last week, when a 
highly anticipated update on the U.S. job market came in weak enough to worsen 
worries about the slowing U.S. economy.

   The Federal Reserve has been intentionally pressing the brakes on the 
economy through high interest rates in order to stifle high inflation. It's 
about to start lowering rates later this month, which would ease the pressure 
on the economy, as it turns its focus toward protecting the job market and 
avoiding a recession. The question on Wall Street is if the Fed's shift in 
focus will prove to be too late.

   Cuts to interest rates give stock prices a boost, but if an economic 
downturn does hit, it could more than offset such a benefit by dragging down 
profits for companies. That's what happened in 2007, for example, when the 
Great Recession wrecked the global economy and financial markets.

   "Today, the absence of glaring household or corporate balance sheet 
vulnerabilities means Fed easing should be enough to prevent recession, and 
should provide investors some optimism for the future of the market," suggests 
Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management.

   On Wall Street, Palantir Technologies jumped 14.1% in its first trading 
after S&P Dow Jones Indices said it would add the company to its widely 
followed S&P 500 index. Dell Technologies rose 3.8% after likewise getting a 
notice of promotion to the index, though and Erie Indemnity lost an early gain 
to slip 0.6%.

   Apple's stock was virutally flat after the company unveiled its latest 
iPhone model, the 16. It's the first model to be tailored specifically for 
artificial intelligence, with expected improvements to its often dim-witted 
virtual assistant, Siri.

   Trading in Big Lots was halted after the discount retailer filed for Chapter 
11 bankruptcy protection and said it plans to sell its assets and ongoing 
business operations to private equity firm Nexus Capital Management.

   All told, the S&P 500 rose 62.63 points to 5,471.05. The Dow gained 484.18 
to 40,829.59, and the Nasdaq composite gained 193.77 to 16,884.60.

   In the bond market, the 10-year Treasury yield edged down to 3.71% from 
3.72% late Friday.

   This upcoming week will feature the latest monthly updates on inflation at 
the consumer and wholesale levels. Such reports used to be the most anticipated 
economic data of each month, but market watchers say they're now taking the 
back seat to updates on the job market because of the worries about a possible 
recession.

   Of course, if the reports show an unexpected spike higher in inflation, that 
could put the Federal Reserve in its worst-case scenario. Lower interest rates 
could help boost the economy, but they could also give inflation more fuel.

   In stock markets abroad, indexes rose in much of Europe after falling in 
Asia. Japan's Nikkei 225 slipped 0.5% after the country's economic growth for 
the second quarter was revised below expectations.

   Chinese stocks racked up losses after worse-than-expected inflation data 
disappointed investors. Indexes fell 1.4% in Hong Kong and 1.1% in Shanghai.

   ___

   AP Writers Matt Ott and Zimo Zhong contributed.

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