Dow rallies after best week since 1938

By Jonathan Garber FOXBusiness

U.S. equity markets gained Monday morning as traders digested the news that social distancing guidelines were extended until at least April 30.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed by as many as 533 points, or 2.5 percent. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were up as much as 1.8 and 2.9 percent, respectively. Last week, the Dow gained 13 percent, making for its best week since 1938.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
I:DJI	DOW JONES AVERAGES	22139.18	+502.40	+2.32%
SP500	S&P 500	2619.26	+77.79	+3.06%
I:COMP	NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX	7745.157151	+242.78	+3.24%

Looking at stocks, airlines slid as they awaited the release tens of billions of dollars of aid from the federal government.

Cruise operators remained under pressure after receiving a downgrade from Berenberg Research.

General Motors was in focus after President Trump praised the automaker, saying it was doing a “fantastic job” ramping up ventilator production.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
AAL	AMERICAN AIRLINES GROUP INC.	12.38	-1.66	-11.82%
DAL	DELTA AIR LINES INC.	28.89	-0.66	-2.22%
CCL	CARNIVAL CORP.	12.65	-1.76	-12.21%
GM	GENERAL MOTORS COMPANY	21.14	-0.24	-1.15%

Abbott Laboratories surged after the company’s five minute COVID-19 test received Food & Drug Administration approval. Johnson & Johnson announced testing for its COVID-19 vaccine would begin by September and that it could be available for emergency use authorization in early 2021.

Regeneron and Sanofi said Monday that their rheumatoid arthritis drug Kevzara treated its first patient with severe COVID-19 in a global clinical trial.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
ABT	ABBOTT LABORATORIES	79.41	+4.85	+6.50%
JNJ	JOHNSON & JOHNSON	132.88	+9.71	+7.89%
REGN	REGENERON PHARMACEUTICALS INC.	474.00	+24.48	+5.45%
SNY	SANOFI S.A.	44.66	+2.21	+5.22%

Elsewhere, Apple gained despite Reuters reporting iPhone demand was likely to be down 18 percent from a year ago.

Jefferies CFO Peg Broadbent died over the weekend due to complications related to COVID-19.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
AAPL	APPLE INC.	254.18	+6.44	+2.60%
JEF	JEFFERIES FINANCIAL GROUP	14.13	-0.21	-1.46%

On the commodities front, West Texas Intermediate crude was trading down 6.6 percent at $20.09 per barrel, closing at its lowest level since February 2002. Meanwhile, gold futures for April delivery fell 0.2 percent to $1,622 an ounce.

U.S. Treasurys gained, pushing the yield on the 10-year note down 9.5 basis points to 0.649 percent.

In Europe, Germany’s DAX gained 1.9 percent while Britain’s FTSE and France’s CAC were up 1 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively.

Asian markets fell, with Japan’s Nikkei falling 1.6 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng sliding 1.3 percent and China’s Shanghai Composite shedding 0.9 percent.