- US stock indexes climbed on Tuesday as gradual reopenings across several states and an extended oil rally boosted investor optimism.
- West Texas Intermediate crude oil soared as much as 22%, to $24.85 per barrel, pushing its rally into a fifth day and marking a sharp rebound from its late-April lows.
- Watch major indexes update live here.
US equities climbed on Tuesday as gradual reopenings throughout the country and a five-day oil rally lifted investor sentiments.
West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery soared as much as 22%, to $24.85 per barrel. The beleaguered commodity has more than doubled from its April 21 lows as global demand has begun to recover. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, climbed as much as 14%, to $31.12 per barrel.
Both futures contracts fell under historic pressure through the end of April as demand plummeted and storage neared capacity.
"Many market participants believe there is light at the end of the tunnel" for oil prices, the UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said.
Here's where US indexes closed on Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET:
- S&P 500: 2,868.44, up 0.9.%
- Dow Jones industrial average: 23,883.09, up 0.6% (133 points)
- Nasdaq composite: 8,809.12, up 1.1%
Regeneron extended its lead as the S&P 500's winningest stock this year. The biotech firm surged as much as 7.2% on Tuesday after first-quarter results landed above Street estimates. The company also revealed it is advancing a top coronavirus antibody treatment, aiming to have "hundreds of thousands of preventative doses available by the end of August 2020."
Norwegian Cruise Line was among the day's biggest losers, plummeting 23% after the company said in a regulatory filing it had "substantial doubt" in its ability to continue operations.
"COVID-19 has had, and is expected to continue to have, a significant impact on our financial condition and operations, which adversely affects our ability to obtain acceptable financing to fund resulting reductions in cash from operations," the cruise company said after an internal audit.
Optimism around the world's efforts to contain and combat coronavirus drowned out a collection of gloomy economic reports. The Commerce Department announced exports slid a record amount in March and helped push the US goods and services deficit up 11.6% to $44.4 billion.
A report from the Institute for Supply Management detailed the economic downturn within the US's services sector. The industry plunged into contraction territory for the first time since the financial crisis in April, according to ISM. Last month's reading was also the lowest since March 2009.
Tuesday's gains arrived after China retaliated against US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his claim that there is "enormous evidence" that the coronavirus was created in a Chinese lab. Chinese state media described the Trump administration official as a liar and "evil," further escalating tensions between the two nations after months of relative calm.
The trading session followed a nearly flat trading day to start the week. Major airline stocks slid, with United Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and Southwest Airlines plummeting on the news that Warren Buffett dumped his holdings in the firms.
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