GM, retailers give US stocks broad rally

S&P Investment advisory services Erin Gibbs, Kelly & Co. Managing Partner Kevin Kelly and Lindsey Bell, investment strategist at CFRA Research, on how General Motors is planning to end production at five plants in the U.S. and Canada.

U.S. stocks popped on Monday rebounding from four consecutive days of losses. Investors were encouraged by the positive buzz on retail sales tied to Cyber Monday which may hit a record $8 billion, according to Adobe. Big tech stocks also rebounded helping lift the Nasdaq Composite 2 percent, while the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose about 1.5 percent with Dow turning in a 354 point gain.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
I:DJI	DOW JONES AVERAGES	44296.51	+426.16	+0.97%
SP500	S&P 500	5969.34	+20.63	+0.35%
I:COMP	NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX	19003.651134	+31.23	+0.16%

Amazon and Walmart both posted gains, helping consumer discretionary stocks lead the S&P 500’s top sectors rising more than 2 percent.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
AMZN	AMAZON.COM INC.	197.12	-1.26	-0.64%
WMT	WALMART INC.	90.44	+2.04	+2.31%
XLY	CONSUMER DISCRETIONARY SELECT SECTOR SPDR ETF	218.10	+3.13	+1.46%

General Motors jumped nearly 5 percent after announcing it would shed 15 percent of its North American salaried workforce or nearly 15,000 employees, while also shuttering production on underperforming vehicles in an ongoing push to cut costs. While President Trump said he was “not happy” with the announcement from CEO Mary Barra, investors felt otherwise.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
GM	GENERAL MOTORS CO.	58.53	+2.85	+5.12%

Energy stocks also posted gains as global oil prices stabilized. Last Friday, Crude oil prices plummeted approximately 6 percent to their lowest levels this year on continued concerns about a global oversupply. However, the price decline gave a boost to airline stocks on prospects of lower fuel costs. Investors are also optimistic the final trading week of the month will feature positive reports and results on home prices, GDP and minutes from the last Fed meeting.

Mike Obel contributed to this story.