US stocks climb as gold and silver prices keep falling

NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� U.S. stocks rose on Monday following sharp swings that shook financial markets overnight, including tumbles for Asian stocks. and silver prices sank further following their latest wild moves.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 added 0.5% and snapped a . The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 515 points, or 1.1%, and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.6%.

Stocks of companies that make computer storage helped lead the market, adding to gains from last week following several profit reports that topped analysts鈥� expectations. Airlines and cruise-ship operators were also strong, benefiting from a sharp easing of oil prices.

The center of action in financial markets was , where momentum has suddenly halted after gold鈥檚 price roughly doubled in just 12 months.

Gold briefly dropped below $4,500 per ounce in the overnight hours, down more than $1,000 from its high point reached just last week. It then climbed back above $4,800 before settling at $4,652.60, down 1.9% from Friday.

Silver鈥檚 price has been on an even wilder ride recently, and it swung from a 9% loss overnight to a modest gain and back to a loss of 1.9%.

Gold and silver prices had surged as investors looked for safer things to own amid a wide range of worries, including a Federal Reserve that may be set to become less independent, a U.S. stock market that critics say is expensive, threats of tariffs and heavy debt loads for governments worldwide.

Their prices cratered on Friday, including a 31.4% plunge for silver. Some on Wall Street saw it as a result of President Donald Trump鈥檚 as the . Warsh鈥檚 reputation as a former Fed governor may have raised expectations that he may keep interest rates high to fight inflation, which would reduce the need to hide out in gold and silver for protection.

But many on Wall Street are also skeptical of that initial reading and say the expectation from Trump is likely that Warsh will cut interest rates, something the president has been demanding. That could give the economy a boost but also worsen inflation over the long term.

The Fed鈥檚 chair has a big influence on the economy and markets worldwide by helping to dictate where the U.S. central bank moves interest rates. That affects prices for all kinds of investments, as the Fed tries to keep the U.S. job market humming without letting inflation get out of control.

The recent swoons for gold and silver may also simply mark the return of gravity for two investments whose price shot very high, very fast. They鈥檙e likely more about the washout for some traders who had borrowed money to bet on metals鈥� prices continuing to soar, rather than about a wholesale change in expectations for demand for metals, according to Darrell Cronk, chief investment officer for Wealth & Investment Management at Wells Fargo.

On Wall Street, Sandisk leaped 15.4% to lead the S&P 500. The data-storage company added to its 6.9% gain from Friday, after it reported stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It credited demand created by the artificial-intelligence boom, among other things.

That helped offset a 2.9% drop for Nvidia, whose chips are powering much of the world鈥檚 move into AI technology. The losses were worse in Asia, where AI winners plunged. South Korea鈥檚 Kospi fell 5.3% from its record for its worst day in almost 10 months after chip company SK Hynix lost nearly 9%.

The Walt Disney Co. fell 7.4% even though the for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It warned of challenges that are keeping international visitors away from its U.S. theme parks, among other things.

Oil prices dropped more than 4% after Trump told reporters that Iran is 鈥渟eriously talking to us.鈥� It鈥檚 a potential signal of improving relations between the two countries, which could keep oil flowing easily around the world.

The drop in oil prices could mean less painful fuel bills for airlines and cruise ships. That helped Carnival steam 8.1% higher, and United Airlines climb 4.9%.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 37.41 points to 6,976.44 and finished just shy of its record set last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 515.19 to 49,407.66, and the Nasdaq composite gained 130.29 to 23,592.11.

In the bond market, Treasury yields edged higher after a report said that U.S. manufacturing grew last month, when economists were expecting a contraction. The yield on the 10-year Treasury erased an earlier dip and rose to 4.28%, up from 4.26% late Friday.

Such strong figures could persuade the Federal Reserve to stay on pause with its cuts to interest rates. The next big set of data that could sway the Fed was supposed to come on Friday, when the U.S. government was due to update the nation鈥檚 unemployment rate. But that report has been

In stock markets abroad, European indexes rose roughly 1% following a washout in Asia. Japan鈥檚 Nikkei 225 fell 1.3%, while stocks fell 2.2% in Hong Kong and 2.5% in Shanghai.

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AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.