US close: Stocks continue rally, S&P 500 returns to positive territory
Wall Street stocks closed higher on Monday as stocks continued to build upon last week's sharp gains and the S&P 500 returned to positive territory for the year.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.70% at 27,572.44 and the S&P 500 was 1.20% firmer at 3,232.39, while the S&P 500 saw out the session 1.13% higher at 9,924.74.
The Dow closed 461.46 points higher on Monday following a sharp rally on Friday, which also saw the Nasdaq Composite hit a record intraday high for the first time since 19 February, as investors continued to remain optimistic about the reopening of the economy despite ongoing protests across the nation.
As far as the new week was concerned, market participants will be holding out for comments from Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell regarding the futures of US interest rates on Wednesday. However, the Fed is expected to reiterate its commitment to unlined asset purchases as part of its efforts to keep markets functioning.
Investors were also focussed on efforts to reopen the US economy in the wake of Covid-19, with reopening plans in various stages across all 50 states.
However, while traders were backing stocks linked to the reopening of the economy, the likes of California, Utah, Arizona, North Carolina, Florida, Arkansas and Texas have all reported an increase in the number of coronavirus infections since having lifted restrictions, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Elsewhere in the corporate space, PG&E shares slid in early trading after the Californian firm announced a $3.25bn equity investment at a discounted price, while Gilead stock rallied and AstraZeneca slumped following reports that preliminary talks of a merger between the two had been abandoned.
No major data points were released on Monday.