Tuesday's Stock Market Open: US Equities Jump After Monday’s Historic Sell-Off, Oil Rises

Update: 12:05 p.m. EDT:

U.S. stocks gave up most of their earlier gains by noon on Tuesday as traders worried about the efficacy of potential stimulus measures to fight the economic impact of coronavirus.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 95.39 points to 23,946.41 while the S&P 500 rose 16.96 points to 2,763.52 and the Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 65.56 points to 8,236.26.

While President Donald Trump floated the idea of a payroll tax cut and other measures, White House officials told CNBC that they have not yet rolling out specific proposals to deal with a slowdown.

“While we believe that a fiscal stimulus package will be produced, the timing and scope remain uncertain,” said Ed Mills, Washington policy analyst at Raymond James. “When asked about the potential for a fiscal package, some Republican leaders on the Hill signaled that they believe these actions to be premature and key Congressional Democrats arguing that there are more immediate priorities over tax cuts and plan to introduce their own package in coming days.”

In Europe markets gave up early gains to finish mostly lower as Britain’s FTSE-100 edged up 0.05%, France’s CAC-40 dropped 1.52% and Germany’s DAX fell 1.29%.

Original story:

U.S. stocks jumped higher on Tuesday at the opening as traders bought up bargains following Monday’s massive declines.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 861.55 points to 24,712.57 while the S&P 500 rose 93.11 points to 2,839.67 and the Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 285.58 points to 8,236.26.

The Dow’s 2,013-point plunge on Monday was its biggest-ever point drop. After Monday’s drop, the S&P 500 fell 19% below its intraday all-time high of 3,393.52 from Feb.19 – just 1% short of a bear market.

“The double whammy of the continued problems from the coronavirus and the new oil price war induced by the Saudis has caused stock markets around the globe to fall out of bed,” said Matthew Maley, chief market strategist at Miller Tabak on Monday.

On Tuesday, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said the government has not ruled further measures with The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to stabilize chaotic oil markets.

As of Tuesday, there were at least 110,029 coronavirus cases around the world and at least 3,817 deaths, according to the World Health Organization. Outside of China, South Korea had the most number of infections with 7,513 cases.

On Monday evening, President Donald Trump proposed the idea of “a payroll tax cut or relief” to relieve the negative impact from the coronavirus on top of an $8.3 billion spending package he signed late last month.

Trump also said he will meet with Senate and House Republicans on Tuesday to discuss tax relief measures to provide “a timely and effective response to the coronavirus.”

Japan introduced a second package of measures valued at about $4 billion to deal with the impact of the coronavirus outbreak. These measures will focus on helping small and mid-sized companies.

“While things feel like the end-of-days I’d stay risk averse in the near-term, but expect bear market rallies,” said Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone Group.

Overnight in Asia, markets rebounded. China’s Shanghai Composite climbed 1.82%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 1.41%, and Japan’s Nikkei-225 rose 0.85%.

In Europe markets trade higher as Britain’s FTSE-100 rose 2.81%, France’s CAC-40 climbed 2.33% and Germany’s DAX gained 2.08%.

Crude oil futures surged 7.87% at $33.58 per barrel, Brent crude climbed 8.21% at $37.18. Gold futures eased 0.87%.

The euro fell 0.55% at $1.1377 while the pound sterling slipped 0.75% at $1.3024.

10-year Treasury yield surged 27.9% to 0.638%.