Investing.com – U.S. stocks closed sharply higher as the fallout from Hurricane Irma didn’t appear to as bad as feared after Irma was downgraded to a tropical storm on Monday while easing geopolitical uncertainty on the Korean peninsula lifted sentiment.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed higher at 22,055. The S&P 500 closed 1.13% higher while the Nasdaq Composite traded at 6432.26, up more than 1%.
U.S. stocks made a bright start to the week as investors expressed relief that Hurricane Irma, which made landfall in Florida over the weekend, had weakened and has since been downgraded to a tropical storm as it continues to move its way across land.
On the geopolitical front, tensions on the Korean peninsula eased, lifting demand for risker assets, after North Korea marked the 69th anniversary of its founding on Saturday without any further missiles or nuclear tests.
U.S.-North Korean tensions could renew, however, as North Korea warned the United States of facing “pain and suffering” if harsh sanctions are agreed at a United Nations Security Council meeting on Monday.
"The forthcoming measures to be taken by the DPRK will cause the US the greatest pain and suffering it had ever gone through in its entire history," North Korea's Foreign Ministry said in a statement
On the corporate news front, shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) closed more than 1% higher ahead of a product launch event due Tuesday, at which the tech giant will reveal its latest smartphone, the iPhone 8.
'Bulls and Bears' on Wall Street
The top Dow gainers for the session: Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO) up 2.2%, The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:TRV) up 2.2% and 3M Company (NYSE:MMM) up 1.9%
Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD) down 0.9%, General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) down 0.6% and United Technologies Corporation (NYSE:UTX) down 0.2%, were among the worst Dow performers of the session.