WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks have moved sharply higher in morning trading on Monday, rebounding following the notable weakness seen in the previous session. With the rally on the day, the major averages have more than offset last Friday's losses.
Currently, the major averages are hovering near their best levels of the day. The Dow is up 1,020.38 points or 4.9 percent at 22,072.91, the Nasdaq is up 330.98 points or 4.5 percent at 7,704.06 and the S&P 500 is up 115.77 points or 4.7 percent at 2,604.42.
The rally on Wall Street comes as the reported death tolls in some of the world's coronavirus hot spots showed signs of easing over the weekend.
The number of coronavirus-related deaths in New York State fell to 594 on Sunday from 630 on Saturday, reflecting the first daily decrease.
President Donald Trump warned the country could be headed into its 'toughest' week but expressed hope the country was seeing a 'leveling off' of the coronavirus crisis.
Reports of decreases in the number of new infections and deaths in European countries like Italy and Spain may also generate some positive sentiment.
Housing stocks have shown a substantial move to the upside in morning trading, driving the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index up by 9.1 percent.
Significant strength has also emerged among banking stocks, as reflected by the 8.5 percent spike by the KBW Bank Index.
Chemical, commercial real estate and semiconductor stocks are also seeing considerable strength, moving sharply higher along with the other major sectors.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index spiked by 4.2 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged up by 2.2 percent.
The major European markets have also shown strong moves to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index has skyrocketed by 5.9 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is up by 4.6 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 3 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have moved notably lower amid the easing coronavirus concerns. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 6.6 basis points at 0.653 percent.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX