Stocks Climb on Reopening Plan Amid Big Tech Rally: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks rallied as President Donald Trump’s team began mapping out a phased country reopening amid dismal economic numbers.

Futures that traded after the regular session pushed even higher, getting a boost from news that Boeing Co. will resume commercial airplane production in Washington. Gilead surged in late trading on a report that virus patients treated with its drug showed improvement.

In a very volatile session, the S&P 500 climbed and the Nasdaq 100 wiped out its losses for 2020. Traders also assessed a fresh batch of corporate earnings, with Morgan Stanley posting a 24% jump in trading revenue, while casting doubt on whether those gains can continue. Treasuries and the dollar rose. Oil closed under $20 a barrel for a second day.

Read: Nasdaq 100 Erases 2020 Losses With Megacap Tech Rally Back On

Federal guidelines the Trump administration issued to states on Thursday recommend that they document a “downward trajectory” in cases of coronavirus and flu-like illnesses before relaxing stay-at-home orders. States could then proceed into a three-phase reopening process, according to the guidelines, which Bloomberg News obtained. Trump will announce the plan during his daily news conference at 6 p.m.

“I’m not so sure it’s the most bullish news in the world,” said Matt Maley, chief market strategist at Miller Tabak + Co. “The market did rally. I’m guessing this initial move was in reaction to the fact that President Trump is not going to fight the governors over the who is going to lift the restrictions, which means that the plan will be a better organized one.”

More than 5 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, bringing the total in the month since the outbreak throttled the U.S. economy to 22 million. New home construction declined in March from the previous month by the most since 1984.

“It’s like trying to fly a kite in a hurricane while you’re in the middle of an earthquake,” said Matt Lloyd, chief investment strategist at Advisors Asset Management.

Still to come this week:

• China releases GDP, industrial production and retail sales and jobless figures Friday.

These are some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• The S&P 500 climbed 0.6% as of 4 p.m. New York time.
• The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.6%.
• The MSCI Asia Pacific Index decreased 0.8%.

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index climbed 0.4%.
• The euro dipped 0.7% to $1.0835.
• The Japanese yen weakened 0.3% to 107.80 per dollar.

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries dipped two basis points to 0.61%.
• Germany’s 10-year yield decreased one basis point to -0.47%.
• Britain’s 10-year yield was unchanged at 0.302%.

Commodities

• The Bloomberg Commodity Index rose 0.1%.
• West Texas Intermediate crude settled at $19.87 a barrel.

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