Dow, S&P and Nasdaq score biggest point gains ever as stocks make coronavirus comeback
U.S. equity markets surged Monday as Wall Street rebounded from its worst week since the financial crisis and has President Trump and U.S. health officials made more progress in developing a plan to combat the coronavirus.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose over 1,294 points or 5 percent in what is the biggest point gain ever. Ditto for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq from a point gain of 136 and 384 points respectively.
The rally comes after a volatile overnight session saw Dow futures swing by more than 1,100 points and the U.S. 10-year yield sink to a record low 1.03 percent.
CORONAVIRUS REACHING PANDEMIC MAY HURL US ECONOMY INTO RECESSION
Last week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled more than 3,500 amid coronavirus fears. Both the Dow and S&P 500 are trying to avoid an eighth straight day of losses, something that hasn’t happened since the Friday before the 2016 election.
Looking at stocks, consumer goods names rallied amid signs consumers were hoarding goods just in case the outbreak causes lengthy home quarantines.
Meanwhile, Co-Diagnostics soared after announcing plans to provide coronavirus test kits to U.S. labs.
Apple shares gained after Oppenheimer said the company’s “products and services will prove more resilient than competitive products in uncertain times” and upgraded shares to “outperform.”
General Electric was little changed after J.P. Morgan Chase upgraded shares to “neutral” and raised its price target to $8 from $5. On Sunday, former GE CEO Jack Welch died at the age of 84.
Meanwhile, airlines were mostly lower after more signs the outbreak will take a toll on business. American Airlines and Delta Air Lines announced the cancellation of service to and from Milan through late April and United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz said the airline would “likely” need to cut more flights from its schedule.
Casino operators Wynn Resorts and MGM International fell after Macao, the gaming capital of the world, reporting gross gaming revenue plunged by a record 87.8 percent year over year to 3.1 billion patacas ($386.5 million) in February.
Cruise operators Carnival Corp., Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line slid following the news Japanese operator Luminous Cruise filed for bankruptcy amid a slew of cancellations caused by the outbreak.
Commodities were sharply higher with West Texas Intermediate crude oil up 4.5 percent to $46.75 a barrel and gold climbing by 1.8 percent to $1,592.30 an ounce.
European markets were mixed with Britain's FTSE up 1.1 percent France's CAC higher by 0.4 percent. Germany's DAX was down by 0.3 percent.
Overnight, a monthly purchasing managers’ index released Monday by Caixin magazine showed Chinese factory activity fell to 40.3 in February from 51.1 in January as the outbreak forced the temporary closure of facilities around much of the country. A separate report released Saturday by China’s National Bureau of Statistics showed a plunge to 35.7 from 50. Still, business confidence rose to a five-year high amid hopes Beijing would provide stimulus to cushion the economy.
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Markets rallied across Asia as China’s Shanghai Composite surged 3.2 percent, Japan’s Nikkei jumped 1 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.6 percent.
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