Friday's Stock Market Open: US Equities Rise After House Passes Another Coronavirus Relief Bill

Update: 12:05 p.m. EDT:

U.S. stocks were narrowly mixed as of noon Friday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 33.14 points to 23,482.12, while the S&P 500 inched up 1.94 points to 2,799.74 and the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 17.8 points to 8,512.55.

In Europe markets finished lower, as Britain’s FTSE-100 fell 1.28%, France’s CAC-40 tumbled 1.3% and Germany’s DAX slipped 1.69%.

Original story:

U.S. stocks opened higher on Friday as traders consider a new $484 billion relief package the House passed and which awaits Donald Trump’s signature.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 189.33 points to 23,704.59, while the S&P 500 rose 19.80 points to 2,817.60 and the Nasdaq Composite Index edged up 40.62 points to 8,535.37.

Late Thursday, the House overwhelmingly passed a $484 billion relief package designed to help small businesses and hospitals. The bill now goes to President Donald Trump for his signature.

Trump said on Thursday he may extend national social distancing rules until early in the summer or later.

U.S. durable goods orders plunged by 14.4% in March, after rising by a revised 1.1% in February.

On Friday, the Bank of Russia cut its key interest rate by 50 basis points to 5.5% and suggested more cuts were possible.

The central bank also slashed its gross domestic product forecasts – saying the economy will shrink by between 4% and 6% in 2020, then recover to expand by between 2.8% and 4.8% in 2021 and by 1.5% to 3.5% in 2022.

“The dynamics of economic recovery will largely depend on the scale and effectiveness of measures taken by the government and the Bank of Russia to mitigate the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic,” the bank said.

“The recent price action in global markets has highlighted the fragility of the risk rally in the face of deteriorating global economic data and weak commodity prices,” said Valentin Marinov, the head of G10 FX strategy at Credit Agricole CIB in London. “[But] the recent global monetary and fiscal stimulus measures have put a ‘floor’ under the risky assets.”

More than 2.6 million cases of COVID-19 have now been confirmed around the world, with over 800,000 cases in the U.S.

Overnight in Asia, markets finished lower. China’s Shanghai Composite dropped 1.06%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng edged down 0.61% and Japan’s Nikkei-225 fell 0.86%.

In Europe markets traded lower, as Britain’s FTSE-100 fell 0.49%, France’s CAC-40 tumbled 0.35% and Germany’s DAX slipped 0.54%.

Crude oil futures jumped 5.45% at $17.40 per barrel, Brent crude gained 1.94% at $25.27. Gold futures edged up 0.53%.

The euro edged up 0.21% at $1.0801 while the pound sterling rose 0.04% at $1.235.