· Wall Street closes higher as Fed soothes recovery worries
Wall Street closed higher on Monday following an announcement by the U.S. Federal Reserve regarding its corporate bond purchasing program that boosted investor confidence, which had been wavering amid a spike in new COVID-19 cases.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 157.62 points, or 0.62%, to 25,763.16, the S&P 500 gained 25.28 points, or 0.83%, to 3,066.59 and the Nasdaq Composite added 137.22 points, or 1.43%, to 9,726.02.
All three major U.S. stock indexes reversed losses in afternoon trading, following the Fed’s decision to apply an indexing approach to its secondary market corporate credit facility to create a more diversified portfolio.
Earlier, the U.S. Federal Reserve announced it had opened registration for its Main Street Lending program to help businesses weather the storm of mandated lockdowns.
· Dow futures pop 250 points as stocks look to extend gains after Monday’s big comeback
Futures contracts tied to the major U.S. stock indexes rose Monday evening as investors looked to extend Wall Street’s gains from Monday’s dramatic comeback.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 260 points, suggesting an open gain of 300 points when regular trading resumes on Tuesday. S&P 500 futures pointed to an opening advance of 1.1% while Nasdaq-100 futures indicated a similar advance.
Traders pointed to an announcement from the Federal Reserve during Monday’s session for an abrupt move higher around 1:50 p.m. ET.
· European markets close lower as coronavirus concerns linger
European stocks ended the day in the red on Monday, amid concerns over a resurgence of the coronavirus in Asia and the U.S. as lockdowns are eased.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 recovered the majority of its steep earlier losses, but still finished around 0.2% lower. Germany’s DAX fell around 0.3%, France’s CAC 40 ended the day provisionally 0.4% lower, and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 closed down around 0.8%.
Markets in Europe followed their Asian counterparts lower as concerns over a second wave of coronavirus cases dominate market sentiment. Asian stocks traded lower Monday and U.S. stocks fell in morning trade on Monday.
The pullback comes after states including Alabama, California, Florida and North Carolina report a rise in daily new coronavirus cases. Texas and North Carolina reported a record number of virus-related hospitalizations Saturday.
China, the original epicenter of the pandemic, is also subject to concern about a second wave, after Reuters reported that a district of Beijing is in a “wartime emergency” due to the discovery of a new cluster of infections centered around a wholesale food market.
Meanwhile, protests against racism and police brutality, that started following the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis last month, continued in the U.S. and Europe. Tensions have risen further after the death of Rayshard Brooks, a black man killed by a white police officer in Atlanta on Friday. The Fulton County Medical Examiner’s office said on Sunday that the death was a homicide, Reuters reported.
· Japan up nearly 3% as Asia stocks jump following overnight Wall Street comeback
Shares in Asia jumped in Tuesday morning trade following a dramatic bounce back overnight on Wall Street.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan surged 2.86% in early trade while the Topix index advanced 2.49%. Over in South Korea, the Kospi soared 3.1%.
Stocks in Australia also traded higher, with the S&P/ASX 200 up 1.28%.
Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index traded 0.92% higher.
Reference: CNBC, Reuters
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