A late-afternoon burst of buying helped stock indexes close mostly higher on Wall Street on Monday (US time), snapping a five-day losing streak for the S&P 500.

The benchmark index shook off an afternoon slump to finish 0.2 per cent higher. Banks, energy companies and communication stocks accounted for much of the index’s broad gains. Health care and utilities stocks fell. The S&P 500 was coming off its biggest weekly drop since June.

Despite the rally, the ASX is set to open lower with futures at 6.37am AEST pointing to a fall of 12 points, or 0.2 per cent, at the open.

The price of US crude oil rose 1 per cent and crossed back above $US70 ($95) per barrel. It hasn’t closed above that level since early August. Natural gas prices jumped 5.9 per cent and are at their highest levels since the middle of 2014. The solid gains helped lift energy stocks, including a 2.6 per cent rise for Exxon Mobil and a 7.2 per cent jump for Marathon Oil.

Stocks have traded in a narrow range for several weeks as most investors are sitting on the sidelines waiting to get a fuller understanding of where the economy is headed and how the pandemic is impacting corporations.

“Interestingly it’s all still within this narrow band that we’ve been seeing in the markets” said Greg Bassuk, CEO of Axs Investments. “Investors are still looking to hang their hats on more outsized or more significant news relating to the economic recovery.”

The S&P 500 rose 10.15 points to 4,468.73. Despite its pullback last week and modest gain on Monday, the index remains just 1.5 per cent below the all-time high it set on September 2.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 261.91 points, or 0.8 per cent, to 34,869.63, while the Nasdaq slipped 9.91 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 15,105.58.

Bond yields edged lower. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 1.32 per cent from 1.34 per cent late Friday.