Stocks soar as New York Stock Exchange reopens floor to traders

Stock roared Tuesday coming off the holiday weekend, as the national shutdown continues to unwind, more drug companies chase coronavirus vaccines and the New York Stock Exchange reopened its floor to traders for the first time in two months.

The Dow Jones industrial average shot up nearly 600 points, about 2.3 percent, to push the blue-chip index past the 25,000 threshold. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index was up 57 points, about 1.9 percent, lifting the broader index above 3,000 for the first time since March. The tech-heavy Nasdaq showed a 1.6 percent gain.

All three indexes are coming off strong gains last week and are positive for May.

“With more signs of the worst of the virus being behind us investors are beginning to focus on more countries reopening and the lifting of travel bans around the world,” said Torsten Slok, chief economist for Deutsche Bank Securities in an email. “More signs of reopening and more signs of travel bans being lifted creates more clarity for markets.”

President Trump marked Wall Street’s advance on social media. “Market up BIG, DOW crosses 25,000. S&P 500 over 3000. States should open up ASAP. The Transition to Greatness has started, ahead of schedule. There will be ups and downs, but next year will be one of the best ever!" he said in a Twitter post.

Dow component Merck was up in early trading after the pharmaceutical giant announced several advances against the coronavirus, including teaming with another company on the development of a vaccine as well as new treatments for virus patients.