The index with strong technological coloring appreciated by 1.13% to finish at 9,924.75 points, thus erasing all the losses generated by the pandemic. His previous record was dated February 19.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the flagship Wall Street index, for its part gained 1.7% to close at 27,572.44 points.
The S&P 500, which represents the 500 largest companies on Wall Street, rose 1.2% to 3,232.39 points, occasionally returning to its level at the start of the year.
These three indices have all increased by more than 40% since mid-March when they suddenly collapsed in the face of the sudden surge of COVID-19 in the United States.
The equity market is soaring as investors believe that we are at the start of a new economic cycle, that the recession has kicked off growth again
, as it was on the wing before the pandemic, says Maris Ogg, portfolio manager for Tower Bridge Advisors.
This stock market euphoria contrasts with the current situation in the United States, where unemployment remains at an extremely high level and where indicators have shown for several weeks that economic activity has been hit hard by COVID-19 and the measures taken. to stop its progression.
The National Bureau of Economic Research’s Business Cycle Dating Committee announced Monday that the longest economic expansion in US history had abruptly ended in February.
Resumption of activities in New York
The country is plagued by massive protests against racism and police brutality, which led several cities to impose curfews last week.
But investors rarely pay attention to social unrest.
They focus above all on the gradual resumption of activity in the United States, symbolized Monday by the start of deconfinement in New York, which has been at the center of the epidemic for several weeks.
Exactly 100 days after the confirmation of the first case in the US economic capital, construction companies and factories in the city began to return to work.
The announcement Friday of a surprise drop in the unemployment rate in May in the country, thanks to the first reopening of businesses and restaurants in parts of the United States, had already left investors to think that the recovery in employment could be faster than expected.
Businesses should see their business pick up again. Those that have the most to gain from a return to normalcy were up sharply on Monday, like the airlines United Airlines (+ 14.8%), American Airlines (+ 9.3%) or Delta (+ 8.2%).
The aircraft manufacturer Boeing also jumped (+ 12.2%), taking with it the Dow Jones, of which it is one of the most important members.
Moreover, Maris Ogg notes, the indices are rising, because we know that the Federal Reserve is there and that the other central banks will hold on
.
Investors have indeed benefited greatly from the support provided by the American Central Bank, which has injected massive amounts of money into the financial circuits since the start of the pandemic to ensure the proper functioning of the markets and facilitate corporate borrowing.
They are now waiting for another meeting of the Fed’s Monetary Policy Committee to end on Wednesday. They will be on the lookout for any clue on any future decisions of the institution.
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