Wall Street’s main indexes gained on Tuesday as healthcare stocks rallied, oil prices surged and a number of countries and U.S. states eased coronavirus-induced restrictions in an attempt to revive their economies.
Stocks pulled back sharply late in the session after Federal Reserve Vice Chair Richard Clarida made downbeat comments about the depth of the economic contraction.
Some hard-hit countries, including Italy, as well some U.S. states including California are tentatively easing lockdown orders this week, raising hopes for a recovery in oil demand.
Healthcare shares led among S&P 500 sectors following developments in efforts to control the coronavirus from Pfizer and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals .
Stocks have rebounded sharply since late March from the coronavirus-fueled sell-off, helped by massive monetary and fiscal stimulus. Investors are now watching efforts by a number of states trying to spark their economies by easing restrictions put in place to fight the outbreak.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 133.33 points, or 0.56%, to 23,883.09, the S&P 500 gained 25.7 points, or 0.90%, to 2,868.44 and the Nasdaq Composite added 98.41 points, or 1.13%, to 8,809.12.
The S&P 500 posted 11 new 52-week highs and two new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 46 new highs and 12 new lows.
About 10.6 billion sha