Wall Street rallied on Monday as optimism reignited for additional fiscal stimulus to help the U.S. economy that has been heavily impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, leading major indices to recuperate some of their recent losses. Monday also saw a slew of new mergers and acquisitions, pushing the market even higher.
On Sunday, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced that House Democrats will soon release a new coronavirus stimulus proposal of more than $2 trillion, a smaller price tag to their previous $3 trillion bill, but still above what Senate Republicans may support. Pelosi told CNN's "State of the Union" that she and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are scheduled to talk on the bill on Monday.
Meanwhile three major mergers and acquisitions hit Wall Street on Monday: Devon Energy (NYSE: DVN) and WPX Energy (NYSE: WPX) announced that they are moving forward with a merger that will value about $12 billion; Caesars Entertainment (NASDAQ: CZR) disclosed a cash offer to buy William Hill (OTC: WIMHY) for 2.9 billion pounds (about $3.73 billion); and Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE: CLF) agreed to buy ArcelorMittal's (NYSE: MT) U.S. operations for $1.4 billion, a deal that would make Cleveland-Cliffs the largest flat-rolled steel producer in North America.
Here how the market settled to start the week:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): +1.61% or +53.21 points to 3,351.67
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): +1.51% or +410.36 points to 27,584.32
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): +1.87% or +203.96 points to 11,117.53
For Major Stock News, mega-cap tech stocks rallied alongside the broader market: Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Facebook (NASDAQ: FB), Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), and Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX). Reopening stocks also jumped following increased stimulus optimism: American Airlines (NASDAQ: AAL), Carnival Cruise (NYSE: CCL), Delta (NYSE: DAL), Norwegian Cruise (NYSE: NCLH), Royal Caribbean (NYSE: RCL), Southwest (NYSE: LUV) and United Airlines (NASDAQ: UAL). Virgin Galactic (NYSE: SPCE) shares surged after scoring two Buy ratings from Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) and Susquehanna. The new ratings take the aerospace company to eight out of eight buy ratings from Wall Street firms.
For Sector Performance, every industry gained during Monday's positive session. The performance increases were as follows: Energy +2.33%, Financials +2.27%, Consumer Discretionary +2.18%, Information Technology +1.85%, Industrials +1.81%, Real Estate +1.70%, Materials +1.61%, Communication Services +1.19%, Consumer Staples +1.14%, Health Care +0.82%, and Utilities +0.26%.
For Commodity and Currency News, the U.S. Dollar (NYSE: UUP) declined on Monday against other rival currencies as global equities rallied higher after weeks of declines. The dollar index fell 0.36% ahead of the presidential debate and new economic data. Gold (NYSE: GLD) rose on the falling dollar, with renewed uncertainty pushing investors towards the yellow metal. Spot gold increased 1% at $1,878.33 per ounce, while gold futures settled 0.9% higher at $1,882.30 per ounce. Crude oil futures also reached higher as investors hopes for another U.S. economic stimulus package, but rising future demand concerns kept futures in check. International benchmark Brent Crude (NYSE: BNO) climbed 1.22% higher at $42.43 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (NYSE: USO) rose 0.9% at $40.60 per barrel.
For Tuesday, investors will focus on fresh consumer confidence for September, with Wall Street consensus forecasting a reading of 89.6.