U.S. stock-index futures pointed to gains for stocks at Monday’s open as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said that Americans need to prepare for a tough road ahead in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic but said he wouldn’t bet against the domestic economy’s ability to persevere through the most significant public-health crisis in more than a century.
What are benchmarks doing?
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average YMM20, +1.41% rose 283 points, or 1.2%, at 23,800, those for the S&P 500 index ESM20, +1.38% were up 33.85 points, or 1.2%, at 2,880.50, while Nasdaq-100 futures NQM20, +1.21% were advancing 100.50 points, or 1.1%, at 9,197.
On Friday, the Dow DJIA, +0.25% rose 61 points, or less than 0.3%, to 23,685.42, while the S&P 500 SPX, +0.39% added 11.20 points, or 0.4%, higher to end the session at 2,863.70. The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.79% closed at 9,014.56 after gaining 70.84 points, or 0.8%.
Stocks closed out last week lower, with the Dow down 2.7%, the S&P 500 losing 2.3% and the Nasdaq 1.2% lower.
What’s driving the market?
In an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” program, which aired Sunday, Powell said that the road to recovery for the U.S. may take a while and consumers may lack conviction until efforts to find a vaccine for the illness derived from the novel strain of coronavirus are successful.
That said, the monetary-policy maker struck a cautiously sanguine tone about the likelihood for a relatively near-term rebound for an economy that has shown signs of the extreme toll taken on it by measures in place to limit the spread of the pathogen.
“In the long run and even in the medium run, you wouldn’t want to bet against the American economy,” Powell said during the television interview. He did caution that a second wave of infections could rattle confidence further.
Powell also acknowledged that the unemployment rate could hit as high as 25%, marking levels not seen since the Great Depression. But the Fed boss said that he didn’t fear a second depression for the U.S., forecasting that an economic rebound would start to take shape in the second half of the year.
Which stocks are in focus?
- Tesla Inc. TSLA, -0.51% was given the green light from local officials to resume operations at its Fremont, Calif., auto plant, according to the San Francisco Chronicle in a Sunday report, ending a battle with Alameda County officials, who had barred the opening of factories and manufacturing facilities to slow the spread of coronavirus.
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