NEW YORK, New York – Sharemarkets in the United States and around the world came to life on Monday, racking up major gains across the boards.

Despite the optimism of the past two trading days, January posted the worst monthly performance since the outset of the pandemic.

“Between the amount of volumes that we saw and the massive swings that we saw in markets, the volatility really felt like it had a crescendo,” Art Hogan, chief market strategist at National Securities, told CNBC.

“Crescendos usually happen when you’ve got a massive amount of capitulation and everything is for sale,” Hogan added. “For most of the month we would see money coming out of growth but going into cyclical. Then that would unwind and growth would catch a bit. That was all true until this past week. We’ve seen a bit of the aftermath of that storm, and that seems to be more stabilization.”

The tech-laden Nasdaq Composite did best Monday, surging 469.31 points or 3.41 percent to 14,239.88.

The key tech index is now more than 6 percent higher than its Thursday close, despite losing 8.9 percent for the month.

The Dow Jones index advanced 406.39 points or 1.17 percent to 35,131.86.

The S&P 500 jumped 83.70 points or 1.89 percent to 4,515.55. For the month it was down 5.3%.

The U.S. dollar fell sharply Monday, recording its worst day in 19 days.

“A mix of consolidation and month-end position-squaring has nudged the dollar off its highs,” Joe Manimbo, senior market analyst at Western Union Business Solutions in Washington told Reuters Monday.

“An events-filled week ahead threatens to keep market volatility high. The buck appears to have peaked for now as Friday’s jobs report is forecast to show another month of tepid hiring,” Manimbo said.

The euro gained to 1.1232. The British pound strengthened to 1.3445. The Japanese yen was stronger at 115.12. The Swiss franc jumped to 0.9268.

The Canadian dollar was sin demand at 1.2707. The Australian dollar was being bought up at 0.7066. The ew Zealand dollar rose to 0.6574.

On overseas equity markets, the Dax in Germany climbed 0.99 percent. The Paris-based CAC 40 was up 0.48 percent. The FTSE 100 in London was flat, down 0.02 percent.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 jumped 284.64 points or 1.07 percent to 27,001.98.

The Australian All Ordinaries crept up 2.00 points or 0.03 percent to 7,268.30.

China’s Shanghai Composite, going against the trend, retreated 32.81 points or 0.97 percent to 3,361.44.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng advanced 252.18 points or 1.07 percent, to close Monday at 23,802.26.