Market Snapshot: After a brutal day, stock futures gain after Trump floats cuts to payroll taxes

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U.S. stock market futures shook off early losses and gained late Monday, following Wall Street’s worst selloff since 2008.

A Tuesday rebound would not be unusual — Bespoke Investment Group strategists found that in the 10 previous times since 1952 that the S&P 500 fell 5% or more on a Monday, the index has gained the following day, by an average of 4.2%.

What are the major indexes doing?

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures YMH20, +2.04% were last up around 300 points, while S&P 500 futures ESH20, +2.10% and Nasdaq-100 futures NQH20, +2.32% were each up around 1.5%.

Earlier, the Dow DJIA, -7.78% closed down 2,013.76 points, or 7.8%, at 23,851.02, while the S&P 500 SPX, -7.59% fell 225.81 points, or 7.6%, to end at 2,746.56, near its session low. The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -7.28% plunged 624.94 points, or 7.3%, to finish at 7,950.68. All three benchmarks suffered their biggest one-day percentage declines since 2008.

What’s driving the market?

Futures started rallying late Monday after President Donald Trump said in a White House news conference that he would seek payroll tax relief and other measures to help businesses amid the coronavirus outbreak. Trump said he would announce more details Tuesday, and discuss “a possible payroll tax cut or relief, substantial relief, very substantial relief, that’s big, that’s a big number,” the Associated Press reported. “We’re also going to be talking about hourly wage earners getting help so that they can be in a position where they’re not going to ever miss a paycheck.”

Monday’s stock plunge was the result of growing fears of the economic toll that the rapidly spreading COVID-19 outbreak will take, as well as a selloff in energy-related companies amid a crude-oil price war kicked off over the weekend between Saudi Arabia and Russia.

What are other markets doing?

After plummeting 25% Monday, their worst day since the 1991 Gulf War, crude oil prices ticked up in electronic trading late Monday. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery CLJ20, +4.78% on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 4.6% to $32.62 a barrel. May Brent crude BRNK20, +5.15% , the global benchmark, gained 4.4%, to $35.83.

Gold futures GCJ20, -0.69% slipped 0.5% at $1,668.20 an ounce late Monday.