U.S. stock markets opened December with strong gains, building on a rally that has continued to gain steam amid positive news about the availability of vaccines later next year and certainty over what the elections have delivered to Washington.
The S&P 500 was up 37 points, or 1 percent, reaching 3,658, and the Nasdaq composite opened up 82 points, or 0.7 percent, at 12,281. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, reversing Monday’s losses, jumped 315 points, or 1 percent, but remained below its 30,000 peak from last week.
November saw the markets continue to rise as Joe BidenJoe BidenGeraldo Rivera on Trump sowing election result doubts: ‘Enough is enough now’ Senate approves two energy regulators, completing panel Murkowski: Trump should concede White House race MORE clinched the presidency and pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Moderna applied for emergency use authorizations for COVID-19 vaccines that proved highly effective in clinical trials.
The markets saw some setbacks amid soaring COVID-19 cases, which continue to break records and cause previously unseen levels of hospitalizations and a growing death toll.
But they have largely rallied on, despite economic data showing a slowdown in the recovery and a congressional deadlock over a fifth COVID-19 relief bill.