Wall Street Close: US benchmarks were climbing, COVID-19 lockdowns begin to ease

• Dow Jones Industrial Average added around 354 points, or 1.5%, to end near 24,129.
• S&P 500 climbed around 41 points, or 1.4%, to close near 2,878.
• The Nasdaq Composite added 96 points, or 1.1%, to finish near 8,730.

US benchmarks were climbing on Monday as investors focussed on the easing of lockdowns in certain areas of the country and other parts of the world as pressure continues to build across Europe for relaxation in measures to combat COVID-19.

The states of Georgia, Oklahoma and Alaska have already started to ease restrictions on businesses despite warnings from public-health experts that such moves could be premature. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said their state will start to reopen the economy in certain areas “with certain precautions after May 15.”

Consequently, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added around 354 points, or 1.5%, to end near 24,129, according to preliminary figures, while the S&P 500 climbed around 41 points, or 1.4%, to close near 2,878. The Nasdaq Composite was also ending higher by around 96 points, or 1.1%, to finish near 8,730.

Meanwhile, in Europe, "Phased relaxation is the template Europe seems to be using," analysts at ANZ Bank explained. "In hard-struck southern Europe, the decline in daily new infections is continuing. Spanish PM Sanchez plans to announce a further relaxation in measures tomorrow and Italy will begin relaxing its lockdown in a week. Meanwhile, US polls suggest about 70% of voters there are more concerned about lockdowns easing too soon rather than too late."

Tuesday's data calendar is light, leaving the focus on COVID developments ahead of this week's FOMC and ECB meetings:

• "No further developments on QE or interest rates are expected, but we expect Powell to stress that the Fed is not out of ammunition."
• As for the ECB (Thursday), we expect it to raise the size of its emergency bond buying package (PEPP) by around EUR500bn to EUR1.250trn. Policy will remain extremely loose and we do not see the ECB falling short on providing liquidity and QE, although ECB sources Monday were guarding against further measures this week,

– analysts at ANZ Bank explained. 

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