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MAY 5, 2020 / 4:25 pm
Wall Street rises as lockdowns ease, healthcare shares jump
DJ: 23,749.76 +26.07 NAS: 8,710.72
+105.77 S&P: 2,842.74
+12.03 5/4
DJ: 23,883.09 +133.33 NAS: 8,809.12 +98.41 S&P: 2,868.44
+25.70 5/5
(Reuters) - Wall Street’s
main indexes gained on Tuesday as healthcare stocks rallied, oil prices surged
and a number of countries and U.S. states eased coronavirus-induced
restrictions in an attempt to revive their economies. Stocks pulled back sharply late in the
session after Federal Reserve Vice Chair Richard Clarida made downbeat comments
about the depth of the economic contraction.
Some hard-hit countries, including Italy, as well some U.S. states
including California are tentatively easing lockdown orders this week, raising
hopes for a recovery in oil demand.
Healthcare shares led among S&P 500
sectors following developments in efforts to control the coronavirus from
Pfizer (PFE.N) and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN.O). “We are starting to see some states open up,
we are starting to see
some activity,” said Paul Nolte, portfolio manager at Kingsview
Investment Management. “We
are probably now in the midst of the worst period and things will be gradually
improving from here.”
The
Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 133.33 points, or 0.56%, to 23,883.09,
the S&P 500 .SPX gained 25.7 points, or 0.90%, to 2,868.44
and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 98.41 points, or 1.13%, to 8,809.12.
Shares of large tech and internet companies such as Microsoft (MSFT.O)
and Apple (AAPL.O) also gained, giving lifts to the
indexes.
Pfizer
(PFE.N) shares rose 2.4% after the drugmaker said it and its German partner had
begun delivering doses of an experimental
coronavirus vaccines for human testing. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN.O)
shares gained 6.0%
after the company said its experimental antibody cocktail for COVID-19 may be available
for use by the end of summer.
Stocks have rebounded sharply since late March from the
coronavirus-fueled sell-off, helped by massive monetary and fiscal stimulus.
Investors are now watching efforts by a number of states trying to spark their
economies by easing restrictions put in place to fight the outbreak. Clarida said
during an interview with CNBC that the U.S. economy is likely to contract
sharply during the second quarter as a result of intentional business
shutdowns, but there is a chance the recovery could start in the second half of the year. “Clarida threw a bit of a wet blanket on the market at the end of the
session,” said Michael Antonelli, market strategist at Robert W. Baird
in Milwaukee.
Data on Tuesday showed the vast U.S. services sector fell into contraction in April for
the first time in nearly 10-1/2-years.
Investors are now bracing for data on the labor market through the week
culminating with the employment report for the month of April due Friday. “We have certainly gotten some negative data, but for the most part
the market has learned to look through that,” said Kristina Hooper,
chief global market strategist at Invesco.
In corporate news, shares of Norwegian
Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NCLH.N)
tumbled 22.6% as the world’s third-largest cruise operator raised doubts about
its ability to keep running as a business.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining
ones on the NYSE by a 1.52-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.18-to-1 ratio favored
advancers. The S&P 500 posted 11 new
52-week highs and two new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 46 new highs and
12 new lows.
About 10.6
billion shares changed hands in U.S. exchanges, below the roughly 12
billion daily average over the last 20 sessions.
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