STORY: U.S. stocks rode a rollercoaster on Monday to close higher, after the S&P 500 at one point fell to its lowest level since last May 2021 and the Nasdaq touched a level last seen in November 2020.

The Dow finished up 0.26%. The S&P 500 ended up 0.57%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 1.63%

The topsy-turvy session reflected investor nervousness heading into this week's Federal Reserve meeting, where policymakers are widely expected to raise interest rates by half a percentage point to counter inflation.

Geetu Sharma is founder and investment manager at AlphasFuture.

"Even though the markets are very volatile right now, on its own, higher rates do not necessarily mean that it's bad for the equities because there are plenty of stocks that are still continuing to do well, still have strong demand and they have pricing power. [FLASH] The most sensitive part of the market is the very expensive hyper-growth stocks that did fantastically well in the low rate environment and that segment of the market is now most at risk."

High-growth tech stocks, which have been pummeled this year, rebounded Monday.

Shares of Netflix gained 4.78%, after an abysmal April, in which the streaming giant reported dismal earnings that sent shockwaves through "big tech."

Shares of Facebook parent Meta Platforms, which fell roughly 10% last month, rose 5.32% by Monday's close, and chipmaker Nvidia also gained 5.32% after a sharp decline in April.

Activision Blizzard climbed 3.25% after billionaire Warren Buffett said his Berkshire Hathaway had taken a 9.5% stake in the video game maker, which Microsoft has agreed to buy for nearly $69 billion.

But ending much lower on Monday was Spirit Airlines, after the ultra low-cost carrier rejected JetBlue's takeover offer, saying it had a low likelihood of winning regulatory approval.