US stocks have rebounded from Friday's steep losses despite weaker data on manufacturing and construction spending.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 138.46 points (0.92 per cent) to finish the Monday at 15,254.03.
The broad-based S&P 500 gained 9.68 (0.59 per cent) at 1,640.42, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite rose 9.45 (0.27 per cent) to 3,465.37.
The Institute for Supply Management's purchasing managers index (PMI) on US manufacturing unexpectedly slumped into contraction territory in May, for the first time since November, and the the Commerce Department reported that construction spending in April rose 0.4 per cent, less than half of the increase expected.
"The deteriorating economic data is mitigating some concerns surrounding the Federal Reserve possibly cutting its asset purchases in the near term," Charles Schwab & Co. said.
Nevertheless, better-than-expected US auto sales in May pointed to the continued pick-up in the auto industry.
Ford shares rose 1.3 per cent after reporting a 14 per cent increase in May sales from a year ago. General Motors climbed 1.6 per cent on a 3.1 per cent year-on-year sales gain.
Apple edged up 0.2 per cent as a New York trial opened pitching the iPhone and iPad maker against government accusations that it led a conspiracy to boost the price of ebooks.
Merck leaped 3.8 per cent after announcing Sunday encouraging preliminary results in the trial of a cancer therapy targeting advanced melanoma.
Intel soared almost 4.0 per cent. The embattled chip maker got a boost from FBR Capital Markets's upgrade to "outperform," said Jon Ogg at 24/7 Wall St.
"Pay attention closely because Intel has been so out of favour that the investment community has been negative to the point that many more upgrades could come down the pipe," he added.
Zynga plunged 12.0 per cent after announcing plans to cut 18 per cent of its staff to refocus on games for mobile devices.
Bond prices advanced. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury slumped to 2.13 per cent from 2.16 per cent late on Friday, while the 30-year yield fell to 3.28 per cent from 3.31 per cent. Bond prices move inversely to yields.
