Stock market news live: Wall Street roars at the open as investors bet on coronavirus rescue bill

Story by Yahoo News
Written by Emily McCormick,Javier E. DavidandNishant Mohan

Live Video Link: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/stock-market-news-live-updates-march-24-2020-221411642.html?.tsrc=fin-notif

Stocks surged Tuesday, recouping some losses as market participants anxiously awaited further fiscal stimulus measures from policymakers to combat the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

During pre-market trading, contracts of each of the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100 and Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied about 5% to hit their upper trading limits, which are established each day by CME Group. The indices were pinned to “limit up” as of Tuesday morning, with about two hours to go until the opening bell.

Monday was yet another ugly day on Wall Street, which saw the Dow erase nearly all of its gains from the presidential election day in November 2016. It capped a second straight session in the red after the U.S. Senate again failed to approve a nearly $2 trillion economic rescue package, disappointing investors hoping to see a speedy authorization of the relief legislation.

Late Monday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled a $2.5 trillion coronavirus economic rescue package as a countermeasure to the Senate’s polarized debate. She signaled optimism on Tuesday that the warring parties were closing in on an agreement.

The repeat stalling of the Senate bill came just hours after the U.S. Federal Reserve unleashed its own set of new and extensive measures to help keep corporate credit flows and other critical parts of financial markets functioning smoothly. The new program included unprecedented measures from the Fed, including purchases of eligible corporate bonds from companies and exchange-traded funds, and purchases of commercial mortgage-backed securities.

“With the Fed now all-in and then some, the onus will be largely on fiscal policy to provide any further support for consumers and businesses,” Ben Ayers, senior economist for Nationwide, said in an email Monday. “Early signals suggest widespread layoffs and cutbacks by businesses with the sudden economic stop seen across the globe, necessitating further action to cushion the harm to the economy.”

Damage from the outbreak has taken a massive toll on small and local businesses, as well as the country’s largest corporations, as residents practice social distancing and shun leisure and travel. These huge, if temporary, societal changes have been aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus, which has sickened more than 46,000 U.S. citizens as of Tuesday morning, according to Johns Hopkins data.

The ensuing business disruptions and economic uncertainty has weighed heavily on risk assets, with the S&P 500 tumbling by about 34% from its recent closing high on February 19.