Wall Street roared back on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average surging by over 2,000 points for its biggest daily points gain ever.
It was a strong day for all three major averages, with the Dow ending the day up by more than 11 percent. The S&P 500 rallied by over 9 percent, while the Nasdaq notched up gains of just over 8 percent.
Traders have pinned their hopes on the government's fiscal stimulus plan after emergency crisis action from the Federal Reserve failed to soothe markets.
The measure would reportedly include $350 billion for small businesses and $240 billion in relief for health care, including $75 billion that would be allocated to hospitals directly; $11 billion for the development of vaccines, treatments and other preparedness needs; and $4.5 billion for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Unemployment insurance benefits included in the bill would give recipients 100 percent of their salary.
The rally came after Monday's brutal sell-off, which put the Dow on track for its worst month since 1931 after the stimulus package failed to gain approval for the second time.
With millions of Americans now under virtual lockdown, and businesses across the country shuttering their doors, even the latest round of drastic intervention from the Federal Reserve did not lift Wall Street's pessimism, in stark contrast to the messaging from the White House.
Administration officials, eager to get the country back to business, have grown increasingly concerned in recent days about the economic impact the tight restrictions on movement and social interactions are having. These officials said they worry that the White House went too far in allowing public health experts to set policy and that their actions did not need to be so draconian.
“I would love to have the country opened up and raring to go by Easter,” President Donald Trump said during an interview with Fox News, even as the coronavirus pandemic worsens. "You will have packed churches all over our country, I think it would be a beautiful time and it is just about the timeline that I think is right."
A White House official said the president does not view Easter as a date that he can begin to open things up, but a date by which the economy starts to get back on track.
