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Investing.com – The swashbuckling gains on Wall Street saw the Dow enter bull-market territory again as investors cast aside a record jump in jobless claims on growing hopes that stimulus will ensure that a widely-expected U.S. recession is short-lived.
The Dow jumped 6.38%, or 1,351 points. The Dow is up about 21% since its most recent low. The S&P 500 surged 6.24% and the Nasdaq Composite rose 5.60%.
In an interview with NBC, Federal Reserve Jerome Powell conceded the U.S. “may well already in a recession,” but boosted investor expectations for more stimulus by insisting the central bank had plenty of ammo after it pledged earlier this week to ramp-up its bond-buying program.
“When it comes to lending, we are not going to run out of ammunition,” Powell said. “That just doesn’t happen.”
Main Street, meanwhile, could be next up on the Fed’s agenda. Powell reportedly said the central bank is working on a Main Street Lending Facility to support smaller businesses, Bloomberg reported.
With the well of monetary policy seemingly at little risk of running dry, and a fiscal boost expected imminently as Congress readies the launch of its $2 trillion stimulus package, investors raised their bullish bets on stock, with the more defensive names like utilities and real estate among the biggest gainers.
Industrials, meanwhile, continued to get a lift from Boeing (NYSE:BA), up 13.5%, as the stimulus bill — expected to be approved by the House — will provide the aviation sector with a much-needed fiscal boost.
The rally on Wall Street comes even as Covid-19 infections continued to mount worldwide, with cases in the U.S. surging to nearly 76,000 and deaths topping 1,000. In Italy, the epicenter of the outbreak in Europe, infections surged by 6,153, the most in five days, taking the global tally to above 500,000.
Financials also supported the broad-based rally, led by banking, even as Treasury yields dropped.
JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) rose 6.7%, Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) gained 6.8% and Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) rallied 7.6%.
