US markets end higher on easing coronavirus concerns

15 Apr 2020 Evaluate

The US markets ended higher on Tuesday as traders continued to express optimism about signs of a flattening of the coronavirus curve. President Donald Trump defended his administration's response to the pandemic and indicated he is working on plans to re-open the country. Meanwhile, White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, have also recently expressed cautious optimism. Cuomo said that the number of coronavirus deaths in New York rose to 778 on Monday after declining for two days but noted other indicators continue to be more encouraging. However, the International Monetary Fund warned the global economy could see the worst recession since the Great Depression as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and the containment measures adopted to slow the outbreak. World GDP is set to contract 3 percent this year, thanks to the lockdowns imposed by countries around the world. The lender expects global GDP to grow 5.8 percent next year.

On economic data front, import prices in the US showed a steep drop in the month of March, according to a report released by the Labor Department, while export prices also fell sharply. The Labor Department said import prices plunged by 2.3 percent in March after falling by a revised 0.7 percent in February. The nosedive reflected the largest monthly drop in import prices since January of 2015. Street had expected import prices to tumble by 1.7 percent compared to the 0.5 percent drop originally reported for the previous month. The bigger than expected decrease in import prices came as prices for fuel imports plummeted by 26.8 percent in March after sinking 9.0 percent in February. Prices for petroleum and natural gas both showed substantial decreases. Excluding the steep drop in fuel prices, prices for non-fuel imports were unchanged in March after rising by 0.3 percent in February.

Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 558.99 points or 2.39 percent to 23,949.76, Nasdaq gained 323.32 points 3.95 percent to 8,515.74. 76 and S&P 500 was up by 84.43 points or 3.06 percent to 2,846.06.

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