Stocks shook off a downbeat start to close higher on Monday, as big gains by technology and communications companies helped offset losses elsewhere on Wall Street.

The S&P 500 rose 0.8 per cent after having been down 0.2 per cent in the early going. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3 per cent and the Nasdaq composite added 1.9 per cent.

The Australian sharemarket is set for gains, with futures at 6.59am AEST pointing to a jump of 50 points or 0.7 per cent, at the open. The Australian dollar is also sharply higher, rising 0.7 per cent to be fetching 75.51 US cents at 5.07am AEST.

Twitter surged 27.1 per cent for the biggest gain in the S&P 500 after the company disclosed that Tesla’s Elon Musk had taken a 9.2 per cent stake in the social media platform. In recent weeks Musk has publicly questioned the company’s commitment to free speech. The gains were a key factor in lifting the broader communications sector and keeping the S&P 500 in the green even as little less than half the companies in the index fell.

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The market’s latest moves follow three straight weekly gains by the S&P 500, even as investors grapple with uncertainties stemming from surging inflation, higher interest rates from the Federal Reserve and the economic fallout from the war in Ukraine.

The S&P 500 rose 36.78 points to 4,582.64, the Dow gained 103.61 points to 34,921.88, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 271.05 points to 14,532.55.

Smaller company stocks also gained ground. The Russell 200 index rose 4.33 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 2,095.44.

Apple and other big technology stocks did the heavy lifting Monday, offsetting losses elsewhere. Tech companies, with their pricey stock values, tend to have more weight in pushing the market up or down. Apple rose 2.4 per cent and Microsoft gained 1.8 per cent.