Wall Street kicked off the week on a strong footing, led by a rebound in small-cap stocks and regional banks, easing some of the credit-driven anxiety that shook markets last week.

The Russell 2000 Index climbed 1.8% on Monday, outperforming large caps, as the SPDR Regional Banking ETF (NYSE:KRE) rose 2%, extending Friday's 1.6% gain.

The recovery comes after KRE plunged 6.2% on Thursday, its worst single-day drop since April, following fresh credit concerns tied to regional lenders.

Large-cap benchmarks also posted solid gains. The Nasdaq 100 advanced 1.4% to 25,155, just shy of its all-time high of 25,195 set on Oct. 10. The S&P 500 gained 1.1% to 6,733, now within 0.5% of its record, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1% to 46,630.

Investor attention now turns to a packed earnings calendar. Key reports are due this week from Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA), Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC), and International Business Machines Inc. (NYSE:IBM), along with industrial heavyweights GE Aerospace (NYSE:GE), GE Vernova ...