NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks were bought back on Monday after a ferocious sell-off on Friday due to the emergence of a potentially serious Covid-19 variant in African and other countries.

Even over the weekend, there was concern Friday's mini-panic on financial markets had been overdone as the seriousness of the new strain has yet to be determined.

"Friday was a major de-risking event. You had the market go back to its worst fears of COVID spreading and the return of lockdowns," Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA told Reuters Monday.

"Now you're starting to see there is some optimism when you listen to the president, when you listen to the Pfizer CEO. The Omicron panic is easing, and we're into a period of wait and see."

Carol Schleif, deputy chief investment officer for the BMO family office in Minneapolis told the enqs agency: "It's not like the start of the pandemic all over again."

"People are willing to just take a deep breath and try to reassess, be a little more patient."

At the close on Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was ahead 236.6 points, or 0.68 percent, at35,135.94.

The Nasdaq Composite gained 291.18 points, or 1.88 percent, to 15,782.83.

The Standard and Poor's 500 reclaimed 60.65 points, or 1.32 percent, to 4,655.27.

The U.S. dollar was little changed Monday. At the New York close, the euro was hovering around 1.1290. The British pound slipped to 1.3310. The Japanese yen was a fraction lighter at 113.57. The Swiss franc firmed a tad to 0.9237.

The Canadian dollar edged down to 1.2742. The Australian dollar was a smidgeon stronger at 0.7138. The New Zealand dollar was unchanged and unwanted at 0.6825.

Overseas, the FTSE 100 in London advanced 0.94 percent. The German Dax was up 0.16 percent. The Cac 40 in Paris added 0.54 percent.

On Asian markets, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo declined 467.70 points or 1.63 percent to 28,283.92.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng dropped 228.28 points or 0.95 percent to 23852.24.

The Australian All Ordinaries fell 37.40 points or 0.49 percent to 7,562.50.

The Shanghai Composite inched down 1.39 points or 0.04 percent to 7,562.70.