S&P 500 Jumps 2.3% and Dow Gains 1,104 Points as Main Street Shifts

Financial markets surged Monday as easing crude oil prices and strong corporate earnings lifted major U.S. indexes near record territory, even as long-running neighborhood dining and retail institutions navigated lease expirations and generational ownership changes. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 jumped 2.3% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average leaped 1,104 points, while on Main Street Minneapolis skyway staple Bep Eatery consolidated to its LaSalle Plaza storefront and the Butler family sold 40-year-old Dear Hearts Ice Cream in Pawtuxet Village while retaining the underlying real estate.

S&P 500 Rallies 2.3% and Dow Gains 1,104 Points as Brent Crude Drops to $92.57

The U.S. stock market recovered most of last week's post-election losses on Monday as the S&P 500 rallied 173.08 points, or 2.3%, to close at 7,549.94—its strongest single-day advance since April, leaving the benchmark just 3.4% below last month's all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1,104.02 points (1,104 points, or 2.2%) to 52,389.75, while the Nasdaq composite rose 673.71 points, or 2.7%, to 25,253.14.

Equities benefited from a 5.8% drop in Brent crude oil to $92.57 per barrel, down from more than $112 per barrel at the start of November. Power generator Constellation Energy climbed 10.5% after summer profit and revenue topped analyst forecasts, Advanced Micro Devices rose 13.3% to erase an 11% drop from last week, and CoreWeave gained 5.6% after a 15.4% slide the prior week. Those gains offset a 4.3% decline in Nvidia shares after the company confirmed its board is reviewing an acknowledged personal relationship involving CEO Jensen Huang—an inquiry where Nvidia's board stated it has no reason to believe national security or corporate secrets were compromised, and which Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun dismissed.

In international trading, Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 2.3% and France's CAC 40 gained 1.2%, while South Korea's Kospi edged down 0.8%. In the bond market, the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield ticked up to 4.87% from 4.86% late Friday, remaining well below last month's two-decade peak above 5.30%.

Bep Eatery Closes Fifth Street Towers Outpost and Keeps LaSalle Plaza Open

In commercial real estate and hospitality, Vietnamese restaurant Bep Eatery—which first opened in 2015 and has operated 2 storefronts in the downtown Minneapolis skyway network since 2016—closed its Fifth Street Towers location at the conclusion of its lease, according to Bring Me The News and the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal.

The restaurant's remaining location in LaSalle Plaza continues to serve daytime skyway commuters with Vietnamese coffee, banh mi, spring rolls, and vermicelli salad, even after a 2025 court filing in which the LaSalle Plaza landlord alleged more than $100,000 in back rent and charges. Published accounts also note an unresolved ownership description between founder Thanh Danh and co-owners Thanh and Mark Myhre.

Butler Family Sells 40-Year Dear Hearts Ice Cream Business While Retaining Building

In Cranston, Rhode Island, Jeffrey Butler confirmed to GoLocalProv that Dear Hearts Ice Cream at 2218 Broad Street (ZIP code 02905) in historic Pawtuxet Village has closed and that the business has been sold after more than 40 years of operation. Originally founded in 1982 by Cranston residents George and Ellen Morton, the riverside scoop shop was taken over in 1998 by the Butler family, who operated it across 4 generations with Butler's father running the store for 25 years. While the ice cream business itself has changed hands, Butler confirmed that his family's corporation retains ownership of the building and land adjacent to the Pawtuxet Village bridge.