Nasdaq sets record as markets swell
China’s 5.7 percent rise its biggest gain since 2015
NEW YORK — Stocks rallied worldwide on Monday as investors bet that the economy can continue its dramatic turnaround despite all the challenges ahead.
The S&P 500 rose 1.6 percent, following up on similar gains in Europe and Asia, and clawed back to within 6.1 percent of its record set in February. The headliner was China’s stock market, which leaped 5.7 percent for its biggest gain since 2015, when it was in the midst of a bubble bursting. Treasury yields also ticked higher in a signal of growing optimism after reports showed improvements in the U.S. and European economies.
Stocks of the biggest companies once again led the way, and strength for Apple, Amazon and other tech-oriented titans helped lift the Nasdaq composite 226.02 points, or 2.2 percent, to close at a record high of 10,433.65.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 459.67 points, or 1.8 percent, to 26,287.03. The S&P 500 rose 49.71 points to 3,179.72 for its third gain of at least 1.5 percent in the last five days.
They’re the latest buoyant moves for markets, where investors are focusing more on recent improvements in the economy and all the stimulus that central banks and governments are supplying than on how much pain still remains. Investors are also continuing to sidestep the mounting number of known coronavirus infections, at least for now.
“The economic damage isn’t going to be as dire and severe as was initially predicted,” said Peter Essele, head of portfolio management for Commonwealth Financial Network. “That helps explain the rebound.”
The worry is that if the pandemic keeps worsening, with hotspots stretching across the U.S. South and West, it could scare shoppers and businesses away from spending. The worst-case scenario for markets is that governments resume lockdowns implemented during the spring and choke off the budding economic recovery. Either way, many economists expect the global economy to take years before returning to its output from before the pandemic.
The huge spending efforts to resuscitate the economy could also lead to a reckoning in the future. “We have now mortgaged our entire future to try and withstand this downturn,” Essele said.
At some point, the buildup in debt for the U.S. government could lead to higher taxes and interest rates. But markets generally see that as a potential problem for another day.
For now, the trend is still upward. Monday’s rally follows last week’s 4 percent gain for the S&P 500, which itself helped cap the best quarter for the U.S. stock market since 1998.
It’s a whiplash turnaround from the market’s earlier sell-off, which sentthes&p500downnearly 34 percent from its record.