Stocks started the holiday-shortened week strong, with all three major indexes netting outsized gains. The Dow added 202 points and has now rallied 695 points in the last two sessions, while the S&P 500 posted a rare triple-digit win as well. The Nasdaq jumped almost 600 points for its best single-session pop since May, as large cap tech titans -- led by Alphabet (GOOGL) -- pared a chunk of their steep losses from this month. As investor confidence returns amid a volume-light trading week, Wall Street's "fear gauge," the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX), logged back-to-back losses of 10% or more for the first time all year.

WEAKER DOLLAR KEEPS GOLD PRICES HIGHER

Oil prices gained, with a U.S.-imposed Thursday deadline looming for a Ukraine-Russia peace deal to be reached. January-dated West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 69 cents or 1.2%, to settle at $58.75 per barrel.

A slumping dollar and renewed rate-cut hopes propped up gold today. December-dated gold futures added 0.9% to settle at $4,115.40 per ounce.

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