Wall Street soared at the start of the shortened trading week as new vaccine hopefuls entered the race for a potential COVID-19 cure and better-than-expected economic data was release. The S&P 500 skyrocketed over 3,000 for the first time since March, closing just short of the milestone at the end of Tuesday's session. The Dow also gained 500 points as investors beat on a faster economic recovery than previously forecasted.
Novavax (NASDAQ: NVAX) joined the coronavirus vaccine race on Monday, announcing that the biotech's first human trial was underway and can expect preliminary results as early as July. In addition, Merck (NYSE: MRK) announced on Tuesday its plans to team up with the nonprofit scientific research organization IAVI to develop a potential vaccine.
Economic activity is also starting to pick up in some sectors with the Census Bureau reporting that New Home Sales rose unexpectedly in April from March's lows. New homes sales rose 0.6% in April from March's decline of 13.7%, slightly upwardly revised from 15.4%. Consensus economists had predicted that the rate would fall lower than March's due to coronavirus related shutdowns across the United States. The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence index also stabilized in May, the board reported on Tuesday.
"Following two month of rapid decline, the free-fall in Confidence stopped in May," Lynn France, senior director of economic indicators at the conference board said in a statement. "Short-term expectations moderately increased as the gradual re-opening of the economy helped improve consumers' spirits. However, consumers remain concerned about their financial prospects."
Here's how the market settled to start the week:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): +1.23% or +36.32 points to 2,991.77
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): +2.17% or +529.95 points to 24,995.11
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): +0.17% or +15.63 points to 9,340.22
In Major Stock News, big banks--Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Citigroup (NYSE: C) Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS)--all joined the market in rallying on economic reopening positivity. Other reopening stocks included American Airlines (NASDAQ: AAL), Carnival (NYSE: CCL), Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL), Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS), MGM Resorts (NYSE: MGM), Southwest (NYSE: LUV), United Airlines (NASDAQ: UAL) and Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ: WYNN); all rallying from Memorial Day weekend's boost in travel. Macy's (NYSE: M) shares soared after the department store chain stated that it was seeing greater demand than expected from store reopenings.
In Stock Sector News, most sectors joined in with the market rally during Tuesday's session, with only Information Technology and Health Care declining -0.12% and -0.19%, respectively. The performance gains were as follows: Financials +5.04%, Industrials +4.24%, Real Estate +3.17%, Energy +2.91%, Materials +2.66%, Consumer Discretionary +1.11%, Utilities +0.73%, Consumer Staples +0.53% and Communication Services +0.29%.
In Commodity and Currency News, West Texas Intermediate (NYSE: USO) rose 3.3% at about $34 per barrel as futures continue to trade higher as coronavirus shutdowns around the world begin to relax. Brent Crude (NYSE: BNO) also increased around 3% to $36 per barrel. Gold (NYSE: GLD) futures fell -1.77% to about $1,704 per ounce as investors moved funds back into stocks. Finally, the U.S. Dollar (NYSE: UUP) also fell -0.96% during Tuesday's session.
For Wednesday, market participants will focus on news surrounding U.S.-China relations and the coronavirus pandemic. The Federal Reserve's Beige Book is also set to release on Wednesday.