US open: Stocks record early gains following Monday selloff

Wall Street stocks opened higher on Tuesday as the US looked to recover from the carnage seen during the previous session on the back of a proposed near $1.0trn fiscal spending package.

As of 1510 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.57% at 20,506.22, while the S&P was 3.36% firmer at 2,466.41 and the Nasdaq Composite was 3.42% stronger at 7,140.54.

The Dow opened 317.70 points higher on Monday and recorded some modest gains following its third-worst day ever in the previous session after the President said the US "may be" moving headfirst into a recession.

Although futures hit "limit up" overnight, they dropped to a more measured level as the morning progressed as investors continued to try to weigh up the uncertain economic impact of the COVID-19 outbreak

The upward moves came after Donald Trump tweeted: "The United States will be powerfully supporting those industries, like Airlines and others, that are particularly affected by the Chinese Virus. We will be stronger than ever before!"

Trump also warned that the crisis could stretch as far as August, noting that the White House could potentially be looking at locking down "certain areas".

The Federal Reserve announced measures to help companies struggling to get short-term funding as a result of the outbreak, while Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will ask congressional lawmakers for a stimulus package of $850bn or more to help the US economy.

According to Reuters, the Federal Reserve was also planning to reinstate a facility previously used during the GFC to improve liquidity in a key short-term funding market. An announcement about a reintroduction of the Commercial Paper Funding Facility could be made as early as Tuesday.

4,281 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in the US, resulting in more than 70 deaths.

On the macro front, US retail sales undershot forecasts last month and although economists said that they would likely be revised higher, they were also quick to warn that sharp drops in consumer spending lay ahead.

According to the Department of Commerce, in seasonally adjusted terms, sales volumes shrank at a 0.5% month-on-month pace in February to reach an annualised pace of $528.11bn. The average consensus forecast was for a rise of 0.2%.

Elsewhere, industrial production in the States grew more quickly than expected in February despite weakness in the mining sector.

The Commerce Department said that total output jumped at a 0.6% month-on-month pace last month (consensus: 0.4%). However, the better-than-expected print was more than offset by a downward revision to January's print from a 0.3% drop on the month to 0.5%.

Lastly, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday that a modest decrease in business inventories had taken place in the US during January.

The Commerce Department revealed that business inventories had edged down by 0.1% in January after coming in unchanged in December, in line with consensus estimates.

In corporate news, Amazon announced it would be cancelling all "non-essential" deliveries, while Netflix shares were up as user numbers looked set to increase as a result of those taking steps to self-isolate.