Investing.com -- Stocks on the U.S. equities markets rallied on Monday reversing most of its losses from late last week, as an unexpected Chinese stimulus measure and lower concerns of a Greek default on its sovereign debt spurred a strong rebound.
Stocks on the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the NASDAQ Composite index gained more than 1% ahead of a fresh batch of earnings among prominent technology companies later this week. The Dow gained 208.63 or 1.17% to 18,034.93, while the NASDAQ continued its push back to 5,000, gaining 62.78 or 1.27% to 4,994.60.
Technology stocks led on the S&P 500, gaining more than 1.75% on the session, as all 10 sectors closed the session in the green. Stocks in the Utilities, Telecommunication and Industrial sectors also closed broadly higher. The S&P 500 rose 19.22 or 0.92% to close at 2,100.40 on Monday.
On Sunday, The People's Bank of China attempted to institute a floor on a two-day sell-off by lowering its reserve requirement ratio (RRR) for banks by 1% from 19.5 to 18.5%. The stimulus measure could release approximately one trillion yuan or $160 billion in liquidity, according to analysts. The sell-off began late last week when the Bank increased the volume of shares available to short sellers by clamping down on margin trading involving over-the-counter stocks.
Investors also await a critical meeting of euro zone finance ministers on Friday in Latvia, as Greece looks to unlock critical aid from its troika of creditors deemed necessary to stave off bankruptcy. On Monday, officials in Athens reportedly issued a decree to local governments forcing them to transfer all cash balances to the Greek Central Bank, in advance of a €770 million obligation due to the International Monetary Fund in May.
The top performer on the Dow was International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM), which gained 5.53 or 3.44% to 166.20 in anticipation of a strong quarterly earnings report after the close. Investors will closely monitor IBM 's "scaling of strategic imperatives," in its cloud analytics and mobile businesses, as well as it free cash flow levels upon the release of the report. Earlier, RBC analysts forecasted free cash flows of approximately $2 billion, which could raise the prospect of a stock buyback in the coming months. The worst performer on the Dow was General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), which lost 0.21 or 0.77% to 27.04.
The biggest gainer on the NASDAQ was Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ:CHKP), which rose 4.20 or 5.14% to 85.95. Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), which are scheduled to release quarterly earnings before the end of the week, also gained more than 2.5% on the session and were among the top performers on the NASDAQ. The worst performer was Mylan (NASDAQ:MYL) Pharmaceuticals, which fell 1.73 or 2.47% to 68.09, amid its potential merger with Teva Pharma Industries Ltd (TA:TEVA).
Mylan was also one of the worst performer on the S&P 500, just above CONSOL Energy Inc (NYSE:CNX) which fell 1.04 or 3.34% to 30.10. The top performer on the S&P 500 was Hasbro Inc (NASDAQ:HAS), which gained 8.19 points or 12.43% to 74.08, after the Rhode Island-based multinational toy company significantly outperformed profit and revenue forecasts for the first quarter.
Hasbro, the maker of Monopoly, Play-Doh and Nerf among others, posted earnings of 0.21 a share, above estimates of 0.08. The company also reported revenues of $713.5 million for the quarter, above forecasts of $660 million.