Wall Street jumps 1 percent, looks beyond Paris attacks

By Noel Randewich

(Reuters) - Wall Street surged over 1 percent on Monday as investors bet Friday's deadly attacks in Paris would have little long-term effect on the U.S. economy and corporate earnings.

U.S. oil prices rose after French air strikes in Syria in reaction to multiple attacks in Paris on Friday that killed 129 people, with Islamic State claiming responsibility. Exxon's shares rose 2.65 percent, while Chevron was up 3.45 percent. [O/R]

The three major U.S. stock indexes opened with a loss but soon turned around, with the Dow Jones industrial average and S&P 500 climbing more than 1 percent.

"Markets are slowly becoming more and more immune to these types of events," said John Brady, managing director at R.J. O'Brien & Associates in Chicago. "Right at the opening there was a bit of a panic trade and then from there more steady hands - more professional, deep-pocketed hands - came in and bought the market."

 

All of the 10 major S&P sectors rose, led by telecom <.SPLRCT> and energy <.SPNY> stocks, although companies linked to travel and leisure took a hit.

American Airlines dropped 2.07 percent, United Continental fell 1.41 percent and Delta Airlines lost 2.59 percent.

Cruise operator Carnival Corp fell 2.04 percent, while travel company Expedia was down 2.63 percent.

At 2:34 pm, the Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was up 1.11 percent at 17,436.48 points and the S&P 500 <.SPX> gained 1.11 percent to 2,045.4.

The Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> added 0.8 percent to 4,967.37.

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett told CNBC he was not selling any securities from his portfolio as a result of the attacks.

Buffett cut his stakes in Goldman Sachs and Wal-Mart in the quarter to Sept. 30, and raised his holding in IBM , according to a regulatory filing. Goldman was nearly flat. IBM was up 1.65 percent and Wal-Mart 1.8 percent.

Investors remain focussed on expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve could hike interest rates in December for the first time in nearly a decade, Brady said.

Last week, U.S. stocks logged their largest weekly loss since August on the back of weak economic data and disappointing earnings from retailers such as Macy's .

Starwood Hotels fell 4.7 percent to $71.47 after agreeing to be bought by Marriott International for $12.2 billion, or $72.08 per share. Marriott rose 0.22 percent.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 2,051 to 945. On the Nasdaq, 1,551 issues rose and 1,203 fell.

The S&P 500 index showed four new 52-week highs and 14 new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 12 new highs and 144 new lows.

(Additional reporting by Abhiram Nandakumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza, Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Chizu Nomiyama)