Gavin Newsom said he will work with Oregon and Washington to develop a plan to reopen their economies and heal after the coronavirus restrictions are lifted.
“Wall Street is encouraged simply by the conversation of a reopening of the economy,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA.The S&P 500 rose 84.43 points to 2,846.06. The benchmark index surged 12% last week, though it remains about 16% below the all-time high it reached in February. The Dow gained 558.99 points to 23,949.76. The Nasdaq climbed 323.32 points to 8,515.74. The Russell 2000 index of smaller company stocks rose 25.29 points, or 2.1%, to 1,237.33.
Although Wall Street expects profits will be down for most companies in the S&P 500, the focus is on what management teams have to say about their prospects for profits for the rest of the year. That might prove difficult. With all the uncertainties about when economies may reopen, many companies have simply pulled their profit and sales forecasts for the year altogether.
“It’s incredibly hard during normal times to have an economic forecast, but today, you’re kind of flying blind,” said Brent Schutte, chief investment strategist at Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management. “What companies have to say will be incredibly important.”Analysts are forecasting a drop of roughly 10% in earnings per share for S&P 500 companies for the first quarter and 21% for the second quarter.
US - flattening the curve.
Slow& safe!