A screen displays trading information for ride-hailing giant Didi Global on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., December 3, 2021.
A screen displays trading information for ride-hailing giant Didi Global on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., December 3, 2021. Reuters / BRENDAN MCDERMID

U.S. stocks were mostly higher on Monday, led by gains in Amazon.com and other mega-cap growth shares while persistent worries over inflation offset some of the optimism.

Shares of Amazon.com Inc were up more than 2%, giving the S&P 500 and Nasdaq their biggest boosts in the stock's first day of trading after adjusting to a 20-for-1 split.

Among sectors, communication services and consumer discretionary were up the most.

A solid jobs report on Friday lowered hopes of a pause in the Federal Reserve's aggressive policy-tightening plan.

Investors are keeping a close eye on inflation data, with a report on Friday expected to show still-high inflation. U.S. Treasury yields rose on Monday.

"There's been a push-pull in the markets now for a while," said Paul Nolte, portfolio manager at Kingsview Investment Management in Chicago.

The jobs report was evidence that "the economy is still in OK shape," he said. But "with inflation running kind of high and commodity prices still rising and putting in new all-time highs, maybe that peak of inflation is still in that ethereal future."

Helping sentiment were easing regulatory crackdowns in China and signs in parts of China of a return to more normal activity after the country's biggest COVID-19 outbreak in two years.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 23.65 points, or 0.07%, to 32,876.05, the S&P 500 gained 8.83 points, or 0.21%, to 4,117.37 and the Nasdaq Composite added 32.81 points, or 0.27%, to 12,045.55.

Twitter Inc shares slipped 1.7% after billionaire Elon Musk said he might walk away from his buyout offer if the social media company fails to provide data on spam and fake accounts.

Didi Global Inc jumped after a report that Chinese regulators were preparing as early as this week to allow the ride-hailing firm's mobile app back on domestic app stores.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.32-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.03-to-1 ratio favored decliners.

The S&P 500 posted 1 new 52-week high and 29 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 54 new highs and 109 new lows.