DataTrek Research co-founder Nick Colas says some of the anxiety over the latest variant has dissipated.

"The early data was always pretty reassuring that it didn't cause the same kind of severe illness as delta or the original variant, but I think it took a couple of days of the market waiting to see if that was actually true before it began to say, 'OK, this might not be as bad as we feared.'"

Intel helped power the Dow up nearly 500 points. The S&P 500 gained 2%. And the Nasdaq jumped 3%.

Intel plans to take public its self-driving car unit, Mobileeye, sometime next year. A source told Reuters the IPO could value the chipmaker's unit at more than $50 billion --- over triple what Intel had paid to acquire the company four years ago. Intel plans to use some of the proceeds to build more chip plants.

Vir Biotechnology shares rose. The biotech firm and its British partner, GlaxoSmithKline, said their COVID-19 therapy works against all mutations of the Omicron variant.

Shares of Kellogg fell. The food maker said a majority of its cereal plant workers in the U.S. voted against a new five-year contract. The company said it'll hire permanent replacements ---- as employees extend their two-month long strike.

An early rally in travel-related stocks fizzled by day's end. American Airlines dropped after the carrier said long-time CEO Doug Parker will retire in March.