NEW YORK, Dec 1 — Wall Street stocks jumped early today, recovering some of the prior session’s losses as investors weighed concerns over Covid-19 and Federal Reserve monetary policy.

About 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.6 per cent at 34,703.99.

The broad-based S&P 500 gained 1.1 per cent to 4,616.01, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 1.1 per cent to 15,709.34.

Major indices fell nearly two per cent yesterday as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged that inflation could persist longer than anticipated, and that he now advocates accelerating the drawback of the central bank’s stimulus measures.

Powell’s remarks came as health officials stepped up calls for Covid-19 vaccinations and booster shots in an effort to limit the spread of the Omicron variant of Covid-19.

The drop in stocks due to the variant amounts to a "knee-jerk reaction” at fears of more lockdowns, said Adam Sarhan of 50 Park Investments.

But if Omicron doesn’t "wreak havoc” on the economy, then equities "have every reason in the world to rally,” Sarhan said.

Indices were also boosted by a report from payroll service firm ADP that private US companies added 534,000 workers in November, a bit more than expected. — AFP