Dow jumps 600 points led by tech, financials on economic recovery optimism

US House passes $1.9T COVID-19 relief package

U.S. equity markets rallied Monday as investors celebrated the approval of a third COVID-19 vaccine and as the U.S. House of Representatives passed a $1.9 trillion relief package. The combination fueled optimism on the economic recovery.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
I:DJI DOW JONES AVERAGES 44782 -128.65 -0.29%
SP500 S&P 500 6047.15 +14.77 +0.24%
I:COMP NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX 19403.947849 +185.78 +0.97%

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 603 points, or 1.95%, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 2.38% and 3.01%, respectively.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
XLF FINANCIAL SELECT SECTOR SPDR ETF 50.83 -0.51 -0.99%
QQQ INVESCO QQQ TRUST - USD DIS 515.29 +5.55 +1.09%

Technology and financial stocks led the broad gains in U.S. equities.

The gains came as the 10-year yield slipped 1.5 basis points to 1.44%. The benchmark yield last week touched a one-year high of 1.61%, causing jitters among stock-market investors as it topped the S&P 500's dividend yield.

President Biden’s COVID-19 relief package cleared the House in a 219 to 212 vote, mostly along party lines, that saw two Democrats vote against the measure.

The bill, which gives $1,400 checks to most Americans and extends unemployment benefits among other things, has been criticized by Republicans as a “blue state bailout” with only 9% of the money going towards pandemic relief.

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In stocks, Johnson & Johnson’s single-shot COVID-19 vaccine received emergency-use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and is expected to begin shipping 4 million doses immediately.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
JNJ JOHNSON & JOHNSON 155.39 +0.88 +0.57%
DAL DELTA AIR LINES INC. 63.60 -0.54 -0.83%
RCL ROYAL CARIBBEAN GROUP 241.76 -2.74 -1.12%
MAR MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL INC. 285.60 -2.58 -0.90%

News of another vaccine boosted airlines, cruise ship operators and other companies that have been hit hard by restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19.

Elsewhere, GameStop Corp. and other heavily shorted stocks, including AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. and Koss Corp. continued to squeeze higher.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
GME GAMESTOP CORP. 30.87 +0.54 +1.76%
AMC AMC ENTERTAINMENT 4.98 +0.19 +3.88%
KOSS KOSS 7.29 +0.07 +0.97%

ExxonMobil Corp. shares spiked after CNBC reported activist investor Jeff Ubben will join the company's board of directors.

Boeing tacked on over 5% on word that United Airlines is buying 25 737 Max Jets.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
BA THE BOEING CO. 156.54 +1.10 +0.71%
UAL UNITED AIRLINES HOLDINGS INC. 97.44 +0.61 +0.63%

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In earnings, Berkshire Hathaway reported operating income, Warren Buffett’s preferred performance measure, rose 14% from a year ago. The company, which bought back $25 billion of stock in 2020 plans to continue share repurchases in the current fiscal year.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
DKNG DRAFTKINGS INC. 43.93 +0.28 +0.64%

DraftKings Inc. received multiple upgrades and price target hikes after the sports-betting platform last week raised its outlook for the current fiscal year.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate crude oil ticked lost 86 cents to $60.64 per barrel and gold slipped $5.60 to $1,722.50 an ounce.

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Global markets were higher across the board.

Germany's DAX 30 paced the advance in Europe, trading up 1.64%, while Britain’s FTSE 100 and France's CAC 40 climbed 1.62% and 1.57%, respectively.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 surged 2.41%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index advanced 1.63% and China’s Shanghai Composite index rose 1.21%.