Stocks jumped Monday on optimism that President Donald Trump may hold back from implementing some of his wide-ranging tariff plans and so the U.S. could skirt an economic slowdown from a protracted trade war.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 597.97 points, or 1.42%, to end at 42,583.32. The S&P 500 added 1.76% and closed at 5,767.57, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 2.27% to settle at 18,188.59.

Shares of Tesla, which have fallen nine straight weeks, were up nearly 12%, adding to their Friday gains. Meta Platforms and Nvidia each climbed more than 3%.

Investors remain jittery over a potential rise in inflation and recession ahead of Trump's April 2 start date for reciprocal tariffs. But sentiment appears uplifted on reports the duties could be more narrow in scope and that sector-specific tariffs are expected to be delayed, according to Bloomberg News and The Wall Street Journal.

Trump said late Monday afternoon that he may give "a lot of countries" breaks on reciprocal tariffs. He also told the press following a cabinet meeting that levies on sectors such as pharma and autos would still be coming in the "near future," essentially confirming they would not be part of the early April rollout.

"Market conditions are improving dramatically as the angst around reciprocal tariffs is somewhat diminishing. From a risk standpoint, escalation or retaliation has always been a concern, but should the administration come through with a more targeted and tactical strategy around tariff implementation, risks of a full-blown trade war are reduced," said Charlie Ripley, senior investment strategist at Allianz Investment Management. "We see this as a potential lift to growth in the U.S., should reciprocal tariffs come in a more watered-down form."

In recent weeks, recession concerns were exacerbated by weakening consumer sentiment data. Stocks rapidly fell starting in late February with the S&P 500, at one point, closing in correction territory.

Trump on Friday told reporters that there could potentially be "flexibility" for his reciprocal tariff plan, which had helped push major averages into the green for the session and resulted in the S&P 500 avoiding a fifth straight losing week.

Correction: An earlier version misstated the number of consecutive losing weeks the S&P 500 had recently suffered. The index snapped a four-week losing run last Friday.

Major U.S. indexes rally on Monday

Shortly after 4 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended Monday's session 597.97 points, or 1.42%, higher to close at 42,583.32. The S&P 500 added 1.76% to settle at 5,767.57, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 2.27% to close at 18,188.59.

— Pia Singh

Oklo stock jumps as NRC poised to start pre-application assessment of nuclear project

Shares of Oklo rose more than 13% after the company announced the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will start an assessment later this month of whether its license application is ready for full review.

Oklo is seeking a license to construct and operate its first advanced microreactor at Idaho National Laboratory. The readiness review will allow NRC staff to familiarize themselves with Oklo's materials before its full application is submitted, according to the company.

"We continue making progress towards obtaining commercial licenses for next-generation nuclear technologies," said CEO Jacob DeWitte in a statement.

Oklo is backed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who serves on the nuclear startup's board of directors.

— Spencer Kimball

Consumer discretionary stocks outperform

Consumer discretionary stocks, which has been the worst-performing sector of 2025, led the S&P 500 on Monday, on pace for its best day going back to November 2023.

The SPDR Consumer Discretionary Fund (XLY) was last higher by 3.7%, on track for its best daily performance since Nov. 14, 2023, when it gained 3.37%. Still, the sector, which eked out a modest gain last week after falling for four straight weeks, is trading about 15% from its 52-week high from mid-December. It remains more than 9% down this year.

Tesla was the biggest advancer in the sector. The electric vehicle stock was last higher by more than 10%, on pace for its best day since November 2024 when it gained 14.75%. However, it is coming off its longest-ever losing streak, having fallen for nine straight weeks.

Deckers Outdoor, Ralph Lauren, Darden and Royal Caribbean also gained, each up roughly 4%.

— Nick Wells, Sarah Min

Pinterest shares rise after upgrade

Pinterest shares popped 4.5%, following an upgrade from Guggenheim.

Analyst Michael Morris upgraded Pinterest to buy from neutral, saying the recent pullback in the image-sharing platform is a buying opportunity. The stock slid more than 8% this month, but is still higher by more than 17% this year.

"We believe that the recent share price pullback creates an attractive opportunity to invest in the still early-stage global user, monetization and profit growth opportunity at Pinterest," Morris wrote Monday. "We expect monetization of the user base to grow at above-market rates from 2025-27, fueled by further volume growth and AI-enabled advertising performance improvements."

"While we acknowledge that macroeconomic-driven ad market concerns are likely to persist, we see Pinterest, with more than two-thirds of revenue from performance-based advertisers, as better positioned than businesses with greater brand exposure," Morris said.

The analyst's price target of $40, raised from $39, implies more than 23% upside from Friday's close.

— Sarah Min

Palantir heads for another strong session

Palantir tracked for another session of noteworthy gains on Monday.

The stock jumped more than 5% on Monday, after rallying just over 4% on Friday. If that holds, it would mark the defense tech stock's first back-to-back gains of at least 4% since early November.

Palantir has jumped more than 26% this year, but the retail investor favorite is still well off its record close.

— Alex Harring, Adrian van Hauwermeiren

Chevron wins extension to pump oil in Venezuela

The Treasury Department on Monday extended Chevron's license to produce oil in Venezuela until May 27, after President Trump said countries that buy crude from the country would face tariffs.

Trump said in late February that he would reverse a Biden administration decision that allowed Chevron to restart oil production in the country. The Treasury Department had previously given the oil major until April 3 to wind down its operations in Venezuela.

Chevron CEO Mike Wirth lobbied Trump administration officials to extend the license during meetings last week, people familiar with the discussions told The Wall Street Journal. Chevron does business in Venezuela through a partnership with its national oil company Petróleos de Venezuela. The oil major has stakes in five onshore and offshore projects in western and eastern Venezuela.

Chevron shares were largely flat in afternoon trading.

— Spencer Kimball

Trump says U.S. will impose 25% tariffs on countries that buy oil, gas from Venezuela

President Trump said the U.S. will impose 25% tariffs on countries that buy oil and gas from Venezuela, as he seeks to increase pressure on President Nicolas Maduro and China.

Countries that buy oil and gas from Venezuela will face tariffs on any trade they have with the U.S., Trump said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social. The tariffs take effect April 2, the president said.

Venezuela exported about 660,000 barrels per day in 2024, according to data from Kpler. China was the largest destination for the South American nation's crude exports, purchasing 270,000 barrels per day last year.

"This announcement by the Trump administration appears to be one more action targeting China," Matt Smith, an oil analyst at Kpler, told CNBC.

Brent crude futures rose 61 cents, or 0.85%, to $72.77 a barrel by 1:15 p.m. ET. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up 59 cents, or 0.86%, at $68.87.

— Spencer Kimball

Bitcoin is just another tech stock, not a market hedge, study shows

Bitcoin is more closely correlated to the Nasdaq than it is to gold most of the time, and investors could benefit from viewing it as another big tech stock, says Standard Chartered.

Bitcoin's correlation with the Nasdaq is currently at about 0.5, after it approached 0.8 earlier this year, according to the bank. Meanwhile, its correlation with gold has been falling since January, touching zero at one point, and is now just above 0.2.

Bitcoin is frequently viewed as "digital gold" and a hedge against risks facing the traditional financial sector. Geoff Kendrick, Standard Chartered's global head of digital assets research, said he still sees the flagship cryptocurrency serving that purpose but that "in reality … the need for such hedges is very infrequent."

For more, read our full story here.

— Tanaya Macheel

See the stocks moving midday

These are some of the stocks making moves midday:

• AZEK — The outdoor products maker rallied 12% after Australia's James Hardie Industries agreed to acquire it for about $9 billion in cash and stock. James Hardie shares dropped more than 18%.
• Viasat — The satellite stock rallied about 10% on the back of Deutsche Bank's upgrade to buy from hold.
• 23andMe — Shares plunged 44% after the DNA testing company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to help sell itself.

See the full list here.

— Alex Harring

BofA downgrades Lockheed Martin to neutral

Bank of America is stepping to the sidelines on Lockheed Martin after the company lost on the Pentagon deal to build the next fighter jet to rival Boeing.

Analyst Ronald Epstein lowered his rating on shares to neutral from buy. He also slashed his price objective to $485 from $685.

Most of Wall Street had expected Lockheed Martin to secure the contract, Epstein wrote in a research note on Monday.

"Beware the Ides of March," Epstein said. "In the wake of this decision, we expect LMT shares to be largely rangebound."

Shares declined 2.4% Monday.

— Hakyung Kim

Small-cap stocks rally

The small-cap Russell 2000 index gained about 2% in morning trading on Monday, outperforming the S&P 500's gain of around 1.5%.

Even with Monday's move, the index still sits in correction territory — meaning a drop of 10% or more from its recent high — at around 15% below its all-time high reached in November 2024.

The move higher comes after Russell 2000 was on the verge of entering a bear market — defined as a decline of 20% or more from a recent high — during the market's recent monthlong rout. The index was down roughly 19% from its November high on March 13.

— Sean Conlon

Services activity perks up, manufacturing lags, S&P 'flash' readings show

Service-sector activity was stronger than expected in March while manufacturing lagged, S&P Global reported Monday.

The firm's flash services index turned in a reading of 54.3, up from 51 in February and better than the 51.5 Dow Jones consensus estimate. Though the reading beat the forecast, S&P noted that the outlook hit its second-lowest since October 2022 while expectations for job growth "was also subdued."

On manufacturing, the 49.8 reading was a downshift from the 52.7 in February and missed the 51.5 estimate.

"Input price inflation accelerated sharply, especially in manufacturing, to a near two-year high, often attributed to the impact of tariff policies. However, competition limited the pass-through of higher costs to selling prices," the firm added.

— Jeff Cox

Stocks open Monday in the green

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped about 348 points shortly after 9:30 a.m. ET, as reports about potentially softened tariff plans lifted momentum. The S&P 500 added roughly 1%, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.3%.

— Pia Singh

Bitcoin climbs above $87,000 on easing tariff concerns

Bitcoin reclaimed the $87,000 mark, a level it has not seen since the beginning of the month, as hopeful traders bet President Trump's tariffs planned for April 2 could be more measured than expected.

Coinbase and MicroStrategy were each higher by more than 3% in premarket trading. Bitcoin miners Core Scientific, Mara Holdings and CleanSpark each gained 4%.

Bitcoin is currently up 4% in March, but still down 6.5% for the year.

— Tanaya Macheel

Stocks making the biggest moves before the bell: Pinterest, Viasat and more

These are the stocks moving the most in premarket trading:

• Pinterest — The social media stock added nearly 5% following an upgrade to buy from neutral at Guggenheim. 
• Viasat — Shares gained 4% after Deutsche Bank upgraded the satellite stock, which competes with Elon Musk's Starlink, to a buy rating from hold.
• Azek — Shares of the outdoor products manufacturer soared 23% after cement manufacturer James Hardie Industries said it would acquire AZEK in a cash and stock deal totaling around $9 billion.

Read the full list of stocks moving here.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Melius Research upgrades shares of Boeing following contract win

Boeing could be due for even more gains from here as a result of its recent contract award from President Trump, according to Melius Research.

Shares rose almost 2% in the premarket after analyst Scott Mikus upgraded shares of the aerospace company to buy from hold. Its updated price target now reflects more than 14% upside ahead, as of Friday's close.

On Friday, Trump awarded Boeing a contract over rival Lockheed Martin to create the next-generation fighter jet known as the F-47. Shares of Boeing rose more than 3% following the award announcement, while Lockheed Martin fell nearly 6%. That puts Boeing's gains over the past six months at more than 14% and Lockheed Martin's losses during that period at around 24%.

"Going forward, we believe Boeing is entering a period of positive newsflow that can drive the stock higher," the analyst wrote Monday. "While we acknowledge that Boeing Defense (BDS) remains a fixer-upper, Phantom Works' [Next Generation Air Dominance] win should provide Boeing with $20B of profitable cost-plus defense sales over the next five years."

Mikus estimates that production contracts for the Next Generation Air Dominance program could lead to $60 billion in sales over multiple decades. On top of that, the contract win will boost morale among employees and bolster BDS' ability to keep top engineering talent, he added.

Meanwhile, the analyst also downgraded shares of Lockheed Martin to hold from buy, citing both competitive losses and increasing concerns surrounding Europe attempting to reduce its reliance on U.S. defense contractors. Its updated target implies about 10% upside from Friday's close.

— Sean Conlon

Tech stocks jump in premarket trading, led by gains in Tesla and Meta

Shares of several beaten-down technology companies rose during premarket trading Monday.

Tesla stock, which has fallen nine straight weeks, jumped 3.6% before market open. Shares of Meta and Advanced Micro Devices each gained roughly 2.7%, while Nvidia added 1.9%.

Shares of Apple, Amazon and Google parent Alphabet also rose.

— Pia Singh

James Hardie Industries to acquire AZEK in a cash and stock deal

James Hardie Industries will acquire outdoor products manufacturer AZEK in a cash and stock deal valued at nearly $9 billion, the fiber-cement maker said.

The deal will see AZEK shareholders receive $26.45 in cash and 1.0340 ordinary shares of James Hardie, which will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange, for each AZEK share. This will bring the total per share value to $56.88 per share, equating to a 37.4% premium to the closing price of AZEK's stock on Friday.

— Brian Evans

White House reportedly plans to narrow scope of Trump's April 2 tariffs

The White House is planning to issue a more narrow slate of tariffs than previously expected on April 2, according to a Wall Street Journal report on Sunday, citing an administration official.

Previously announced reciprocal duties are still planned to be announced on April 2, the report said, albeit likely without sector-specific duties that President Donald Trump had aimed at sectors including automobiles, pharmaceuticals and semiconductors.

— Brian Evans

Stock futures rise on Sunday

U.S. stock futures were higher on Sunday as investors look to push equities higher for a second straight week.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 197 points, or 0.4%. S&P 500 futures advanced 0.5%, while Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 0.6%.

— Brian Evans