Wall Street rallies more than 7% after last week's sell-off

U.S. stocks surged on Monday with all three major averages closing up more than seven percent, after a setback in the previous week amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared 1627.46 points, or 7.73 percent, to 22,679.99. The SP 500 increased 175.03 points, or 7.03 percent, to 2,663.68. The Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 540.15 points, or 7.33 percent, to 7,913.24.

The gains marked the biggest daily percentage rise for each index since March 24.

All 11 primary SP 500 sectors closed noticeably higher, with technology and utilities up 8.78 percent and 7.85 percent, respectively, outpacing the rest.

The massive rally came despite U.S. President Donald Trump saying Sunday that Americans are bracing for probably the toughest week ahead and a lot of deaths will occur due to COVID-19.

"The U.S. will reach a horrific point in terms of death," Trump said, while voicing his optimism that "it will be a point where things will start changing for the better."

The number of COVID-19 cases in the United States topped 350,000 as of 3:30 p.m. local time Monday (1930 GMT), according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

The fresh figure reached 352,546 with 10,389 deaths, according to the CSSE.

U.S. equities pulled back last week with data showing the coronavirus already hurting the economy.

For the week ending April 3, the Dow lost 2.7 percent, the SP 500 declined by 2.1 percent, and the Nasdaq fell by 1.7 percent.

"In the near term, we believe market performance primarily depends on how quickly economic activity can normalize following measures to contain the virus; and the extent to which policy responses can limit bankruptcies and job losses," UBS Global Wealth Management's Chief Investment Officer Mark Haefele said in a research note on Monday.

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Global equity markets

Key eurozone markets closed five percent higher or more.

AvaTrade analyst Naeem Aslam said "investors are shrugging off the pessimism" as death rates slowed in a number of European countries like Italy, Spain and France.

London gains were capped by a stronger pound, but some of that value was lost after news broke that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was admitted to intensive care due to the coronavirus.

Meanwhile, the commodities' markets attention was on a planned meeting of OPEC and other key crude producers aimed at easing a supply glut that had sent oil prices crashing.

(With input from agencies)