Wall Street staged another rally as investors saw more positive signs coming from the coronavirus pandemic. New York State reported that COVID-19 related deaths have been leveling and hospitalization rates are lowering, supporting that social distancing measures are working in the highly impacted state. Some states have even begun planning their reopening strategies as the nation continues its business closures and social restrictions.
All three stock benchmarks rose during Tuesday's session, with Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) leading the Nasdaq and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) supporting the Dow.
Early earnings reported by J.P. Morgan (NYSE: JPM) and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) showed the first signs of coronavirus impact on stocks, with both falling well below earnings expectations. Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) and Citigroup (NYSE: C) are among the companies slated to report earnings on Wednesday.
Here's how the market closed after Tuesday's session:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): +3.06% or +84.42 points to 2,846.06
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): +2.39% or +558.99 points to 23,949.76
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): +3.95% or +323.32 points to 8,515.74
In Major Stock News, Boeing (NYSE: BA) shares fell on Tuesday after the manufacturer announced that 150 customers had canceled 737 Max orders in March due to reduced travel demand. Major players in the cruise industry--Carnival (NYSE: CCL), Norwegian (NYSE: NCLH) and Royal Caribbean (NYSE: RCL)--saw stock share rise as coronavirus outlook appears to be moving in a positive direction. Streaming underdog Roku (NASDAQ: ROKU) saw shares jump after the company said it expects its Q1 streaming hours to be 13.2 billion, a 49% increase year-over-year.
In Stock Sector News, almost every sector joined in Tuesday's rally, with Energy -0.46% being the only one lagging behind. The performance gains were as follows: Consumer Staples +4.23%, Consumer Discretionary +4.19%, Information Technology +4.17%, Health Care +3.31%, Real Estate +3.26%, Communication Services +3.23%, Utilities +2.97%, Industrials +1.89%, Materials +1.15% and Financials +0.33%.
In Commodity and Currency News, crude oil prices slumped on Tuesday as many fear the supply cuts will not fix the devastating fall in demand. West Texas Intermediate (NYSE: USO) plummeted -7.14% and Brent Crude (NYSE: BNO) fell -5.59%, bringing barrel prices between $20-$31 each. Gold (NYSE: GLD) slightly fell -0.05% on Tuesday, bringing the yellow metal's price to $1,729.60 per ounce. Finally, the U.S. Dollar (NYSE: UUP) decline on Tuesday, with the DXY Index dropping -0.63%.