New Delhi, March 24 -- US stocks surged on Monday, led by technology shares on reports of President Donald Trump's administration likely to exclude a set of sector-specific tariffs that are on track to be imposed in April.

As of 11:01 AM Eastern, the S&P 500 jumped 1.6 per cent, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.3 per cent, and the Nasdaq Composite soared 2 per cent.

At 9:59 a.m. the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 497.35 points, or 1.19 per cent, to 42,483.81, the S&P 500 rose 83.12 points, or 1.47 per cent, to 5,750.68 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 331.02 points, or 1.87 per cent, to 18,115.90.

A report showed that US business activity grew in March.

S&P Global's flash US Composite PMI Output Index, which tracks the manufact...