U.S. stocks closed near intraday highs Monday, buoyed by remarks from one Federal Reserve official suggesting a September interest-rate hike may not be a done deal, as well as from a bounce-back in Chinese equities.

Lately, main U.S. indexes have been weighed by worries about the prospect of a slowdown in Asia as well as impending tightening of U.S. monetary policy.

But comments from Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer on Monday may have helped ease some of those concerns. He told Bloomberg TV he doesn’t expect the first interest-rate hike by the U.S. central bank in more than nine years to occur until after inflation returns closer to the Fed’s target of around 2%. The inflation rate has dipped close to zero in recent months and hasn’t been above 2% since April 2012.

Stocks didn’t waver even after Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart, who last week supported a September rate hike, said Monday the economy is strong enough to handle a gradual rise in interest rates.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -1.84% closed up 241.79 points, or 1.4%, at 17, 615.17, after being up nearly 256 points earlier. Twenty-nine out of 30 of the blue-chip index components closed higher, led by Caterpillar Inc. CAT, -4.63% , up 3.7%, and Apple Inc. AAPL, +3.03% , up 3.6%. Apple is expected to host a special event in the week of Sept. 7 to unveil its latest iPhone and Apple TV.

The Dow’s move higher snapped a seven-session losing streak, the index’s worst since 2011’s debt ceiling crisis.

The S&P 500 SPX, -1.15% jumped 26.61 points, or 1.3%, to 2,104.18. All of the S&P’s sectors except utilities closed higher.

BTIG’s Dan Greenhaus said there is lots of stock-picking among recent losers, as evidenced in Monday’s best performing sectors, energy and materials, which both closed up more than 2.5% on the session. For the quarter to date, those sectors have been, and remain, the worst performers on the S&P 500, with energy down 8.3%, and materials down 4.2%.

The tech-laden Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -0.13% finished up 58.25 points, or 1.2%, at 5,101.80.

China’s stock market jumped overnight, perhaps assuaging some concerns that the country’s equity market is running out of steam.

“China has been the No. 1 concern in the market and if the market believes that China’s not coming apart at the seams, then we’re going to see a nice bounce,” said Tobias Levkovich, chief equity strategist at Citigroup.

China’s Shanghai Composite Index SHCOMP, -0.38% leapt 4.5% for its biggest one-day gain in a month on expectations Beijing will maintain its market support.

On Friday, the main indexes closed lower after the jobs report matched economists estimates, giving investors little reason to believe that a rate hike would be derailed.

“There was enough encouragement in the detail of the [jobs] report to suggest that the U.S. labor market is gradually improving. Hours worked pushed higher, and full-time employment improved, which should be enough to keep [Fed Chairwoman] Janet Yellen on track for a first Fed rate hike in September,” said Rebecca O’Keeffe, head of investment at stockbroker Interactive Investor, in a note on Monday.

Read: Yellen’s razzle-dazzle new indicator ignored — even by Yellen

Other markets: European markets were mixed, as resource firms fell after a round of downbeat data from China—a major user of raw materials.

Oil prices CLU25, rebounded Monday, breaking a three-day losing streak from last week’s losses, when futures slumped 6.9% to the lowest settlement level since March. Gold posted a three-day winning streak, ending higher as the U.S. dollar DXY, -0.07% slipped against most other major currencies.

Earnings:Dean Foods Co. US:DF shares slumped 6% after the company reported quarterly results Monday. The milk processor unexpectedly said late Friday that Chairman Tom C. Davis has resigned.

Movers & shakers:Berkshire Hathaway Inc. BRK.A, -2.46% BRK.B, -2.37% said it is buying Precision Castparts Corp. US:PCP, in what could be Berkshire’s largest takeover ever. Precision Castparts shares closed up 19% Monday.

B-shares of Warren Buffett’s investment vehicle slipped 0.1% Monday after the conglomerate late Friday reported its second-quarter profit fell to $4.01 billion, or $2,442 per Class A share, from $6.4 billion, or $3,889 a share, a year earlier.

Read:These are Warren Buffett’s 10 biggest deals

U.S.-listed shares of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. BABA, +0.51% rose 2.1% after the Chinese e-commerce giant said it would invest more than 28 billion yuan ($4.63 billion) for a nearly 20% stake in Suning Commerce Group Ltd. 002024, -0.43% .

Also read:Warren Buffett’s favorite indicator shows it’s time to unload stocks, buy bonds.

—Sara Sjolin in London contributed to this article.