Monday's Stock Market Open: US Equities Surge As Coronavirus Death Rates In Europe Slip, But Oil Falls

Update: 12:05 p.m. EDT:

U.S. stocks continued to rally as of noon Monday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 1,100.52 points to 22,153.05, while the S&P 500 rose 129.79 points to 2,618.44 and the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 376.66 points to 7,749.74.

In Europe markets closed broadly higher, as Britain’s FTSE-100 jumped 3.08%, France’s CAC-40 gained 4.61% and Germany’s DAX surged 5.77%.

But crude oil futures dropped 4.69% at $27.01 per barrel, Brent crude slipped 3.66% at $32.86.

Original story:

U.S. stocks climbed on Monday as coronavirus death rates in Europe appear to be levelling off.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 885.22 points to 21,937.75, while the S&P 500 rose 95.56 points to 2,584.21 and the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 269.89 points to 7,642.97.

New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the state reported 594 coronavirus deaths on Sunday, down from 630 on Saturday, the first such daily decline in coronavirus-related deaths -- thereby raising hopes that the death rate may have peaked.

Death rates in Europe also appear to be leveling off, particularly in Spain, Italy, Germany and France.

However, oil futures keep falling as OPEC and Russia postpone a meeting to discuss production reductions. U.S. President Donald Trump said last week he expected both Russia and Saudi Arabia to cut output by up to 15 million barrels.

“I am beginning to get optimistic,” tweeted Bill Ackman, CEO of hedge fund manager Pershing Square. “[Coronavirus] cases appear to be peaking in [New York]. Almost the entire country is in shutdown.”

“We are still optimistic that the [Trump] administration will be able to get this virus under control and reopen the economy by the end of April, early May,” said Lindsey Piegza, chief economist at Stifel Nicolaus & Co.. “If that does occur, it’s likely that we’re able to control the downturn from a depressionary scenario into a recessionary scenario.”

Overnight in Asia, markets were mixed. China’s Shanghai Composite slipped 0.6%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 2.21%, and Japan’s Nikkei-225 surged 4.24%.

In Europe markets traded higher, as Britain’s FTSE-100 jumped 2.41%, France’s CAC-40 gained 3.79% and Germany’s DAX surged 4.92%.

Crude oil futures dropped 4.3% at $27.12 per barrel, Brent crude slipped 0.95% at $33.16. Gold futures gained 1.73%.

The euro slipped 0.21% at $1.0776 while the pound sterling edged up 0.06% at $1.2273.