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NEW YORK — Stocks closed the week higher on Monday after an optimistic start to the week on Wall Street, after a seven-week decline that nearly ended the bull market that began in March 2020.

The S&P 500 was up 1.9% as technology and finance stocks did most of the heavy lifting for the benchmark index. The Dow Industrial Average rose 2% and the Nasdaq rose 1.6%.

LPL Financial chief equity strategist Quincy Krosby said the recent heavy sell-off in the market has prompted traders to seize major tech stocks and stocks of other companies that were flying high before the market’s staggering rise.

“What we are seeing today is traders and investors coming in and taking advantage of the lower (price) levels,” he said. “It’s the contention in the market between those who say the market is gaining attractively and those who say ‘not really,’ because it doesn’t affect much slower growth.”

The S&P 500 rose 72.39 points to 3,973.75. The Dow added 618.34 points to 31,880.24, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 180.66 points to 11,535.27.

Smaller company stocks also rallied. Russell 2000 rose 19.50 points, or 1.1%, to 1,792.76.

Persistent concerns about inflation weigh on the market and keep key indices down. The indicator S&P 500 is emerging from the longest streak of weekly losses since the dot-com bubble burst in 2001. The index is close to falling 20% ​​from its peak earlier this year, which would place the index at the heart of the 401 for most workers. (k) enters a bear market.

The impact of inflation on consumers and businesses has been a key concern for markets, with the Federal Reserve’s attempt to soften that impact by aggressively raising interest rates. Inflation worsened due to the large disconnect between supply and demand due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its impact on energy prices. Supply chains have been further damaged by China’s recent series of lockdowns for several major cities facing rising COVID-19 cases.

Meanwhile, a series of disappointing earnings reports from key retailers last week raised concerns that consumers were softening spending on a wide variety of goods as they were squeezed by rising inflation.

Investors worry that the central bank might go too far or move too fast in raising rates, stifling economic growth and potentially leading to a recession. On Wednesday, investors will get a more detailed look at the Fed’s decision-making process with the release of the minutes of its most recent policy meeting.

Wall Street will also receive a few economic updates from the Commerce Department this week. It will release its first-quarter gross domestic product report on Thursday and will release personal income and spending data for April on Friday.

Banks posted strong gains on Monday with higher bond yields and are counting on charging more lucrative interest on loans. The 10-year Treasury’s yield rose to 2.86% from 2.77% late Friday. Bank of America rose 5.9 percent.

Tech stocks also lifted a heavy load. Apple rose 4% and Microsoft 3.2%. The industry has been volatile for the past few weeks, causing most of the market’s recent major volatility.

VMware rose 24.8% after a report that chipmaker Broadcom offered to buy the cloud computing company. JPMorgan Chase rose 6.2% after giving investors an encouraging update to its financial forecasts.