New York — US stocks surged on Monday, with each of the major indexes rallying more than 5%, after a drop in the daily death toll in New York, the country's biggest coronavirus hotspot, fuelled hopes a levelling off of the pandemic was on the horizon.
“It is definitely not going to be a one-way street but this potentially could be a turning point, we are starting to get some good news and hopefully that trend will continue,” said Peter Jankovskis, co-chief investment officer at Oakbrook Investments in Lisle, Illinois. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1,232.49 points, or 5.85%, to 22,285.02, the S&P 500 gained 139.16 points, or 5.59%, to 2,627.81 and the Nasdaq Composite added 415.36 points, or 5.63%, to 7,788.44.
Wall Street's fear gauge fell to its lowest in two weeks, but remained at elevated levels. During the financial crisis of 2007-08, the S&P 500 took months to establish a bottom even after the volatility index plummeted.S&P 500 companies are expected to enter an earnings recession in 2020, with declines in profit in the first and second quarters, according to IBES data from Refinitiv, as demand evaporates across sectors such as airlines, luxury goods and industrials.