Dow Just Had Its Best Day Since June

Wall Street clawed back some of its sharp recent losses Monday to start a week that could see more big swings in financial markets.

• The S&P 500 finished 1.2% higher Monday rising 49.45 points to 4,166.82 in its first trading after dropping more than 10% below its high point for the year.
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 511.37 points, or 1.6%, to 32,928.96 in its best day since June.
• The Nasdaq composite rose 146.67 points, or 1.2%, to 12,789.48.

Treasury yields were also climbing at the start of a week full of economic data, including key reports on the US job market. The Federal Reserve announces its next move on rates Wednesday. A barrel of US crude fell 3.5% Monday to $82.54. Brent crude, the international standard, sank 3% to $86.56 per barrel.

Western Digital was helping support the market after it reported better results for the latest quarter than analysts expected, the AP reports. It also announced plans to split its company into two, one focused on traditional disk drives, the other on flash memory. Its stock jumped 7.3%. McDonald's reported stronger profit and revenue for the summer than analysts expected. Its stock rose 1.7% after it said it benefited from higher prices for its products in the United States and raised its dividend.

More than 3 out of 4 companies in the S&P 500 have been reporting stronger profit for the latest quarter than Wall Street expected, according to FactSet. With roughly half the reports in, S&P 500 companies appear on track to deliver profit growth for the first time in a year."It looks like its coming in as the market had hoped, that we're past the worst of it," said Rob Haworth, senior investment strategist at US Bank Wealth Management.

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• On Tuesday, the government will release data on employment costs from July through September. Workers have been fighting for higher raises, but the Fed worries that too-high pay increases could give inflation more fuel.
• On Wednesday will come the latest monthly update on the number of job openings across the country. One way the Fed could pull off the delicate balancing act of slowing the economy without creating a recession would be if the number of job openings cools without requiring waves of layoffs.
• On Friday will come the jobs report for October, which is typically one of the most anticipated pieces of economic data every month.

Through it all will be other updates on the economy and borrowing by the US government, as well as profit reports from roughly 150 companies in the S&P 500, including CVS Health, Pfizer and Starbucks. (More stock market stories.)