Optimism Over Reopening Pushes Stocks Higher

Number of experimental vaccines under development also buoys sentiment in markets.

U.S. stocks rose Tuesday on optimism about economies reopening and the potential development of a coronavirus vaccine.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 640 points, or 2.6%, to 25112. The S&P 500 rose 2%, climbing back above 3000 for the first time since early March and above its 200-day moving average, a closely watched barometer of its strength. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 1.4%.

Investors were cheering signs of economic activity resuming faster than expected across parts of the U.S. and elsewhere in the world. Restaurant bookings and spending on hotels and airlines appears to be picking up in the U.S., coinciding with a decline in the daily number of new infections.

The U.K. has laid out plans to reopen retail stores next month, while Italy, one of the hardest-hit countries, saw people return to bars and restaurants over the weekend.

Stocks have quickly recaptured a level of euphoria usually seen at market tops, said Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer at Bleakley Advisory Group. That’s because stock traders are looking only at the direction of the recovery, while bonds are more concerned with the degree of the recovery, he said.

“As long as things are reopening, the economic data don’t matter,” Mr. Boockvar added.