Wall Street regains stride after two weeks on holiday shopping optimism

By Amy Caren Daniel

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks rebounded on Monday after two bruising weeks, as investors bought into beaten down sectors such as energy and financials, while retailers gained on hopes of blockbuster sales on the largest online shopping day of the year.

Cyber Monday is expected to rake in a record $7.8 billion in sales, according to Adobe Analytics, as shoppers who missed out on deals on Black Friday visit online sites for deals.

Shares of e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc jumped 3.6 percent, providing the biggest boost to the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq. The consumer discretionary index rose 1.71 percent.

The energy index rose 1.45 percent as oil prices recovered some losses from its near 7-percent plunge on Friday, while financials added 1.96 percent, helped by gains in JPMorgan Chase & Co and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

The turnaround in stocks came after the S&P 500 closed 10.2 percent lower from its record closing high on Friday, confirming a correction for the second time in the year.

A clutch of uncertainties from U.S.-China trade dispute and rising U.S. interest rates to signs of slowdown in global economy have pushed investors to dump equities, especially the highly-valued and fast-growing technology stocks.

"We were very over-sold last week and that happened in a holiday shortened sub-optimal environment, and markets are catching a bounce," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley FBR in New York.

"All indications are that the holiday shopping sales are robust, and consumer discretionary is catching a little bit of a break today over enthusiasm over Black Friday, Cyber Monday."

General Motors Co jumped 6 percent after the automaker said it will cut production of slow-selling models and slash its North American workforce.

Other automakers, including Ford Motor Co and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV,, also rose.

At 11:41 a.m. EDT the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 268.57 points, or 1.11 percent, at 24,554.52, the S&P 500 was up 27.59 points, or 1.05 percent, at 2,660.15 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 88.68 points, or 1.28 percent, at 7,027.67.

Investors will keep a close eye on the G20 Summit this week, where U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are expected to hold trade talks in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The technology sector rose 1.26 percent after dropping more than 6 percent last week, its worst fall in eight months.

Nvidia Corp rose 2.1 percent after Credit Suisse began coverage of the chipmaker with an "outperform" rating.

The defensive sectors - utilities, consumer staples and real estate - were the only S&P sectors to trade lower.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.15-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.71-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P index recorded five new 52-week highs and two new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 13 new highs and 53 new lows.

(Reporting by Amy Caren Daniel in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)