Monday’s Stock Market Open: US Equities Rise Despite Record Spike In Covid-19 Infections In Florida

Update: 12:05 p.m. EDT:

U.S. stocks continued to rise at midday Monday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 393.15 points to 26,468.45, while the S&P 500 rose 41.29 points to 3,226.33 and the Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 186.38 points to 10,803.83.

In Europe markets finished higher, as Britain’s FTSE-100 gained 1.33%, while France’s CAC-40 climbed 1.73% and Germany’s DAX rose 1.32%.

Original story:

U.S. stocks climbed on Monday as traders ignored a surge in coronavirus cases in Florida as the second quarter earnings gets underway.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 229.63 points to 26,304.93, while the S&P 500 rose 24.73 points to 3,209.77 and the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 116.93 points to 10,734.37.

The state of Florida recorded 15,299 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, making it the biggest one-day total for any state since the pandemic emerged in March. The Sunshine State now has almost 270,000 covid-19 cases, more than some major countries.

On the whole, the U.S. now has more than 3 million cases.

“COVID remains a huge problem [with] cases, hospitalizations, and fatalities all climbing,” said Vital Knowledge founder Adam Crisafulli on Sunday. “The market continues to absorb all this information relatively well and this seems to be a function of vaccine hopes, lower fatality rates [versus] [March]/April, the avoidance of wholesale lockdowns, and the lack of a resurgence in the Northeast [especially in New York City].”

Pfizer (PFE) and German biotech BioNTech (BNTX) received fast-track designation by the Food and Drud Administration for two of the their four covid-19 vaccine candidates.

On Monday morning, semiconductor maker Analog Devices (ADI) said it agreed to buy Maxim Integrated Products (MXIM) in a $21 billion stock deal.

As second quarter earnings season commences, Refinitiv said it expects corporate profits to plunge by 44% in the second quarter.

“We think earnings are likely to recover in the second half of the year and excess liquidity will continue to support risk assets,” said Julie Fox, managing director at UBS Private Wealth Management. “We see further potential in global equities and think there’s some upside in segments of the market that have underperformed during the crisis.”

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia will meet this week and may taper off production cuts.

“The overall [stock market] rally is still very narrow...and several of the high-flying mega-cap stocks are becoming overbought (and more over-valued),” said Matthew Maley, chief market strategist at Miller Tabak. “Therefore, we have to wait to see if the key resistance level on the S&P is indeed broken to the upside before we can confirm that another rally leg in the broad stock market has begun.”

Overnight in Asia markets finished higher, as China’s Shanghai Composite index rose 1.77%; Japan’s Nikkei-225 gained 2.22%; and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng exchange edged up 0.17%.

In Europe markets traded higher, as Britain’s FTSE-100 gained 1.13%, while France’s CAC-40 climbed 1.4% and Germany’s DAX rose 1.02%.

Crude oil futures fell 0.47% at $40.36 per barrel, Brent crude slipped 0.51% at $43.02. Gold futures gained 0.88%.