New York (AFP)

Wall Street started the week sharply up at the opening Monday, trying to recover from the losses of the previous weeks on the eve of the first presidential debate Tuesday night between Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Joe Biden.

At 1:45 p.m. GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.44% to 27,566.48 points.

The Nasdaq, with strong technological coloring, advanced 1.51% to 11,078.75 points.

The extended S&P 500 index appreciated 1.23% to 3,339.12 points.

The indices rebounded on Friday, advancing 1.34% for the DJIA and 2.26% for the Nasdaq, while the broader S&P 500 index, had gained 1.60%.

But over the week, the flagship DJIA index and the S&P 500, the index most representative of the US market, lost points for the fourth week in a row.

"The presidential election appears to be the next major catalyst in the short term with the first debate this week," said Art Hogan of National Holdings Corporation.

Investors also kept their eyes riveted on the hope of an agreement between Democrats and Republicans in Congress for new budget aid in the face of the damage to the economy caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The leader of the Democrats in the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, said this weekend to have the hope that the Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin "presents again something which can offer a solution".

"I believe we will come to an agreement," she said.

On Monday, the major tech stocks were in the green: Microsoft advanced more than 2%, Tesla exceeded 4% and Facebook 2.50%.

Parcel carrier FedEx took advantage of good recommendations from Deutsche Bank to start up more than 7%.

Over the weekend, the TikTok saga found a short respite with the blocking in extremis, by an American judge on Sunday, of the suspension of the popular Chinese application in the United States as President Donald Trump wants.

The Uber chauffeur-driven car booking group climbed more than 3.5% after a London court ruled in its favor by allowing it for 18 months to practice in London.

In the bond market, the 10-year rate on US debt rose slightly to 0.6561% from 0.6544% on Friday night.

© 2020 AFP