Stocks rose for the first day of May as names poised to benefit from U.S. economic reopening rallied on easing coronavirus pandemic restrictions. The rally started after New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that more capacity restrictions throughout New York, New Jersey and Connecticut will be lifted, while 24-hour subway services will return in New york City later this month.
Meanwhile, April's Manufacturing Business Activity Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) of 60.5 matched consensus economists expectations, while the Institute for Supply Management's Manufacturing PMI came in at 60.7, which was less-than-expected and below March's level of 64.7.
Here's how the market settled to start the week:
S&P 500 Index (SPY ): +0.27% or +11.49 points to 4,192.66
Dow Jones Industrials Average (DIA ): +0.70% or +238.38 points to 34,113.23
Nasdaq Composite Index (QQQ ): -0.48% or -67.56 points to 13,895.12
For Stocks, reopening names like American Airlines (AAL ), Gap (GAP ) Kohl's (KSS ), Royal Caribbean (RCL ) all rose amid a positive economic recovery outlook rally. Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A ) shares rose and reached an intraday higher on Monday following its annual investor meeting over the weekend. Verizon (VZ ) agreed on Monday to sell its media business segment, including Yahoo and AOL, to private equity firm Apollo Global Management.
For Sector Performance, sectors on the S&P 500 ended Monday's session mixed, with Energy (XLE ), Materials (XLB ), Health Care (XLV ) and Industrials (XLI ) leading gains, while Real Estate (XLRE ) and Consumer Discretionary (XLY ) led losses.
For Commodities and Currency, the U.S. Dollar (UUP ) was lower on Monday as U.S. Treasury yields declined and fresh U.S. economic data was weaker-than-expected. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against six other currencies, was 0.4% lower at 90.88 in afternoon trading. Gold (GLD ) prices rose on Monday as a weaker dollar and U.S. Treasury yields boosted the precious metal's appeal. Spot gold was 1.3% higher at $1,791.26 per ounce in afternoon trading, while U.S. gold futures settled 1.4% higher at $1,791.80 per ounce. Crude oil futures rose on positive economic data from China and demand outlooks. International benchmark Brent Crude (BNO ) climbed 1.2% higher to $67.56 per barrel, while domestic index West Texas Intermediate (USO ) settled 1.43% higher at $64.49 each.
For Tuesday, traders will turn their attention to the latest U.S. trade deficit reading, as well as quarterly earnings from companies like Pfizer (PFE ) and CVS Health (CVS ).