Tuesday's Stock Market Open: US Equities Rise As Some States Prepare To Relax Lockdown, Oil Jumps

Update: 12:05 p.m. EDT:

U.S. stocks continued to rally at noon on Tuesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 399.4 points to 24,149.16, while the S&P 500 climbed 52.72 points to 2,895.46 and the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 179.12 points to 8,889.84.

In Europe markets finished higher, as Britain’s FTSE-100 rose 1.66%, while France’s CAC-40 climbed 2.4% and Germany’s DAX gained 2.51%.

Crude oil futures jumped 18.39% at $24.14 per barrel, Brent crude rose 11.65% at $30.38

The ISM Non-Manufacturing Index registered a 41.8% reading in April, 10.7 percentage points below the March reading – the first such contraction since December 2009.

Original story:

U.S. stocks opened higher on Tuesday as some big states prepare to open up parts of their economies after a lengthy lockdown.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 226.09 points to 23,975.85, while the S&P 500 climbed 28.15 points to 2,870.89 and the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 93.08 points to 8,803.79.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said on Monday some of his state’s retailers will be permitted to provide curb-side pickup service starting Friday.

“We are entering into the next phase this week,” Newsom said. “This is a very positive sign and it’s happened only for one reason: The data says it can happen.”

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that hospitalizations and new deaths in his state are starting to decline.

Other states, including Florida, Arizona and Colorado, also plan to reopen some businesses. Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, Texas and Illinois have already lifted some restrictions.

The number of global deaths from the coronavirus pandemic has now surpassed 251,000.

Germany's Constitutional Court has determined that the European Central Bank's stimulus program, through purchases of government bonds, partly violates German law.

The Commerce Department said on Tuesday the trade deficit jumped to $44.4 billion in March from a revised figure of $39.8 billion in February.

Some analysts worry that the recent stock rally lacks conviction.

“Megacaps mask underlying rally fragility,” said Ken Johnson, investment strategy analyst at Wells Fargo. “This concentration raises concerns about the rally’s long-term health and durability as it suggests that ample liquidity, rather than broadly improving fundamentals, may be fueling it.”

Overnight in Asia, the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Tokyo Stock Exchange were both closed for holidays, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 1.08%.

In Europe markets traded higher, as Britain’s FTSE-100 rose 1.68%, while France’s CAC-40 climbed 1.85% and Germany’s DAX gained 1.76%.

Crude oil futures jumped 14.52% at $23.35 per barrel, Brent crude rose 9.67% at $29.83. Gold futures slipped 0.61%.

The euro slipped 0.3% at $1.0872 while the pound sterling rose 0.27% at $1.2477.