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Euphoria on Wall Street, Dow ends up more than 2,000 points

Mar 25, 2020

NEW YORK, New York – U.S. stocks roared on Tuesday, despite more international borders being shut down and more and more countries locking down.

The huge buying lift followed a disastrous day for U.S. stocks on Monday.

The complete reversal came as lawmakers in the U.S. seemed to reach agreement on a $2 trillion stimulus package which is expected to mitigate some of the financial impact on corporate America as well as Americans at large.

The Dow Jones had its biggest one-day gain in 87 years.

Traders were not however saying Tuesday’s spree was a turning point.

“With all of this stimulus, we just need a catalyst to spark the fire,” Lip said. “That spark will be a peaking of the cases, and when it starts to come down, I think that’s when everything gets lit up,” King Lip, chief investment strategist at Baker Avenue Asset Management in San Francisco told Reuters Thomson on Tuesday,

The markets seemed to be buoyed too at President Trump’s apparent agitation with the extent of the shutdowns, largely imposed by state governments. In recent days he has been repeatedly talking of opening the economy back up again despite the enormous risks of accelerating the number of infections.

Mr Trump’s company is under increasing pressure from the measures, as are his prospects for re-election in November.

A piece of good news for the market and for the aviation industry was a revelation by Boeing CEO Dave Calhourn who said the controversial 737 MAX would be ready to return to the skies in mid-year – provided the skies are open again by then.

Boeing’s shares zoomed up 21%, one of the main drivers in Tuesday’s market action.

At the close of trading Tuesday the Dow Jones Industrial Average was ahead 2,112.98 points or 11.37% at 20,704.91. According to Reuters the Dow’s one-day percentage gain was the best since 1933.

The Standard and Poor’s 500 advanced 209.93 points or 9.38% to 2,447.33.

The Nasdaq Composite climbed 557.18 points or 8.12% to 7,417.86.

The U.S. dollar gave up a tiny portion of its recent gains on Tuesday. The euro finished the day in New York around 1.0784. The British pound rose to 1.1749. The Japanese yen however was sold off sharply – to finish the day around 111.35.

The Swiss franc weakened too, to 0.9823.

The Canadian dollar moved within a tight range, finishing Tuesday around 1.4464.

The Australian dollar consolidated recent gains to trade at 0.5970. The New Zealand dollar followed suit at 0.5835.

On Asian markets, the Nikkei 225 was ahead by a whopping 1,204.57 points or 7.13% at 18,092.35.

China’s Shanghai Composite advanced 62.27 points or 2.34% to 2,722.44.

The Australian All Ords rose 189.70 points or 4.15% to 4,753.30.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Send gained 967.16 points or 4.46% to 22,663.49.

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