Big gains by petroleum-linked equities helped lift US stocks Monday in the first session after the terror attacks in Paris late Friday.

Dow members ExxonMobil and Chevron (Swiss: CVX.SW - news) gained 3.6 percent and 4.4 percent, while ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP - news) jumped 4.9 percent as oil prices rallied on reports that US-led coalition jets were targeting the Islamic State group's oil operations in retaliation for Friday's deadly attacks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 237.77 points (1.38 percent) at 17,483.01.

The broad-based S&P 500 jumped 30.15 (1.49 percent) to 2,053.19, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 56.73 (1.15 percent) to 4,984.62.

The gains came as equity markets in Europe ended either positive or well above session lows, demonstrating "some impressive resolve" following the Paris attacks, said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide (NYSE: HOT - news) fell 3.6 percent as it agreed to be acquired by Marriott International (NasdaqGS: MAR - news) for $12.2 billion. A Morgan Stanley (Xetra: 885836 - news) note expressed surprise that the price was not higher. Marriott rose 1.4 percent.

Tourism-related stocks were generally down on expectations of lower traffic due to the attacks. American Airlines (Xetra: A1G.DE - news) lost 1.4 percent, while Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL - news) shed 2.2 percent. Expedia (NasdaqGS: EXPE - news) dropped 2.1 percent and Priceline 2.4 percent.

Weapons makers advanced, with Northrop Grumman adding 4.4 percent and Lockheed Martin (Swiss: LMT.SW - news) 3.5 percent.

US-listed Chinese online retailer JD.com jumped 7.7 percent after projecting fourth-quarter sales as much as 51 percent above the year-ago levels. Other Chinese stocks also rose. Alibaba climbed 3.2 and Baidu (Xetra: A0F5DE - news) 2.5 percent.

Among larger gainers in the technology sector, Apple (LSE: 0R2V.L - news) rose 1.6 percent, Netflix (Xetra: 552484 - news) 7.4 percent and Tesla Motors (Xetra: A1CX3T - news) 3.4 percent.