US stocks rose last week but in a violent manner that the gains eked out suggests the first-quarter correction is not yet over.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average had its biggest point gain since 2015 on Monday and followed it up with one of its biggest point losses in the last couple of years.

The Dow rose about 2 per cent on the week, but lost 2 per cent overall for the first quarter, snapping a long quarterly winning streak and setting a volatile tone for the year.