Updated Mar 24, 2020 - Economy

Stocks soar 9% as Congress nears coronavirus stimulus deal

Courtenay Brown

"Wall St." sign outside the New York Stock Exchange — Photo: Luiz Roberto Lima-ANB/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images

Stocks closed up more than 9% on Tuesday, marking yet another day of huge moves in the stock market amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Driving the news: Congressional leaders signaled that they're close to striking a deal on a massive stimulus package that will soften the blow for businesses and consumers as the pandemic threatens an unprecedented halt in economic activity.

By the numbers: The S&P 500 jumped 9.3%. The Dow rose 11.2% (or 2,112 points), while the Nasdaq climbed 8.1%.

It was the Dow's biggest percentage gain since 1933.

What to watch: President Trump told Fox News he would like to have the country "opened up, and just raring to go" by Easter, which is less than 3 weeks away. Economists warn restarting economic activity before the coronavirus is contained would be more harmful for the economy in the long-run.

"Trying and failing to reopen the economy before economic activity is organically ready to resume could have dire economic consequences," Michael Strain, an economist at right-leaning think tank AEI, wrote in a Bloomberg op-ed today.

Of note: One of the first economic data points since the economy shuttered in response to the coronavirus was released this morning. As expected, it wasn't pretty.

Indices measuring activity in the U.S. manufacturing and service sectors fell to the lowest level since 2008.
For the eurozone, the index saw the worst reading ever in the survey's 22-year history.

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Stocks soar 9% as Congress nears coronavirus stimulus deal

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