United States stock markets were mixed on Monday shortly after opening bell as indices were trying to recover from last week's massive losses and find direction amid risks surrounding Chinese real estate developer Evergrande.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared 455 points, or 1.35%, to 35,035. The blue-chip index saw a loss of 0.9% last week, its fourth weekly decline in a row.
The S&P 500 rose 16 points, or 0.37%, to 4,555 at 10 a.m. EDT (3 p.m. GMT) after it declined 1.2% last week, posting its second consecutive weekly loss.
The Nasdaq, on the other hand, was down 30 points, or 0.20%, to 15,050. The tech-heavy index plummeted 2.6% last week.
Evergrande, which has about $300 billion in total liabilities, said late Friday it may not have enough funds to meet its financial obligations.
Shares of Evergrande dove almost 20% earlier Monday, marking its lowest level since 2009 when it was listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange. Its shares fell 87% since the beginning of 2021.
Investors are worried that the collapse of Evergrande could create a domino effect, hitting Asian markets first and later spreading to Europe and the U.S., similar to the mortgage crisis in 2007.
Despite climbing above the critical level of 30 twice last week, the VIX volatility index, known as the fear index, was down 7.2% to 28.54.
The dollar index was up 0.14% to 96.25, while the yield on 10-year U.S. Treasury notes gained 3% to 1.382%.
Precious metals were down, with gold losing 0.14% to $1,780 an ounce and silver decreasing 0.93% to $22.34.
Crude prices were up more than 2.4%, with Brent crude trading at $71.55 per barrel and U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude at $67.92.
