US stocks jump as tensions with North Korea appear to ease

US stocks have rallied as technology companies and banks helped companies regain a lot of the ground they lost last week.

Almost 90% of the Standard & Poor’s 500 index finished higher.

Technology stocks outpaced the rest of the market following a strong report on the state of Japan’s economy.

Last week, rising tensions between the US and North Korea sent stocks to some of their biggest losses in 2017. That eased on Monday after officials said fighting is not imminent.

But while stocks climbed, investors were not ready to loosen their grip on some traditionally safe investments.

Bond prices slipped only by a small amount and gold finished a little lower, while silver prices rose.

The S&P 500 jumped 24.52 points, or 1%, to 2,465.84. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 135.39 points, or 0.6%, to 21,993.71.

The Nasdaq composite added 83.68 points, or 1.3%, to 6,340.23. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies climbed 20.08 points, or 1.5%, to 1,394.31.

Among technology companies, Apple added 2.37 US dollars, or 1.5%, to 159.85 US dollars and Microsoft picked up 1.09 US dollars, or 1.5%, to 73.59 US dollars.

Bond prices turned lower. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.22% from 2.19% late on Friday.

That helped banks, as higher bond yields mean higher interest rates and greater profits on mortgages and other loans.

U.S. crude oil lost 1.23 US dollars, or 2.5%, to 47.59 US dollars a barrel in New York.

Brent crude, the international standard, shed 1.37 US dollars, or 2.6%, to 50.73 US dollars a barrel in London.