Monday's Stock Market Open: US Equities Rise As New York Prepares To Partly Reopen Its Economy, But Oil Plunges

Update: 12:05 p.m. EDT:

U.S. stocks traded higher as of noon Monday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 301.45 points to 24,076.72, while the S&P 500 gained 38.32 points to 2,875.06 and the Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 107.59 points to 8,742.11.

In Europe markets traded higher, as Britain’s FTSE-100 gained 1.64%, France’s CAC-40 climbed 2.55% and Germany’s DAX rose 3.13%.

Crude oil futures plunged 27.8% at $12.23 per barrel, Brent crude fell 7.9% at $22.85.

Original story:

U.S. stocks rose on Monday as New York and some other states make plans to gradually ease the lockdown and reopen some businesses.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 127.92 points to 23,903.19, while the S&P 500 gained 22.43 points to 2,859.17 and the Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 81.09 points to 8,715.61.

On Sunday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said his state will reopen its economy in segments. In the first phase, the construction and manufacturing sectors will reopen. But any business that opens will have to practice strict social distancing protocols and have personal protective equipment readily available.

Georgia has also begun to reopen parts of its economy despite much opposition.

“As various states begin to reopen their economies and relax social distancing rules, we will get a glimpse of what the new normal looks like,” said Marc Chaikin, CEO of Chaikin Analytics. “The biggest risk to the stock market is a premature reopening of the U.S. economy which results in an increase in covid-19 cases and requires an abrupt reversal of these efforts to awaken the economy out of its engineered coma.”

Almost 3 million coronavirus cases have been confirmed around the world, including more than 900,000 in the U.S.

The Bank of Japan, or BOJ, removed upper limits on its plans to purchase government bonds and upgraded its ability to buy corporate debt and commercial paper.

BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said these measures will be used to battle the impact of coronavirus.

“The current crisis could have a bigger negative impact [on the Japanese economy] than the [2008] Lehman [Brothers] shock. The government and the central bank obviously need to work together, particularly at a time like this,” Kuroda said.

“This coming week will be huge from a macro data perspective and the extent to which the global economy has been floored by Covid-19,” said Simon Ballard, chief economist at First Abu Dhabi Bank. “Until we are clearly past the peak of the outbreak, on a global scale, and can feasibly deem the pathogen to be contained and there to be no meaningful risk of a second wave of infection, we believe a defensive investment strategy will remain the most appropriate.”

Overnight in Asia, markets finished higher. China’s Shanghai Composite edged up 0.25%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.88% and Japan’s Nikkei-225 gained 2.71%.

In Europe markets traded higher, as Britain’s FTSE-100 gained 1.33%, France’s CAC-40 climbed 1.64% and Germany’s DAX rose 2.5%.

Crude oil futures plunged 28.45% at $12.12 per barrel, Brent crude fell 7.3% at $23. Gold futures slipped 0.03%.

The euro rose 0.26% at $1.0851 while the pound sterling edged up 0.5% at $1.2427.