U.S. markets and stock ETFs jumped on Tuesday as investors gained confidence in the global outlook in face of a coronavirus outbreak in China that threatened to stall growth.
On Tuesday, the Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ: QQQ) was up 2.2%, SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (NYSEArca: DIA) rose 1.4% and SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEArca: SPY) gained 1.5%.
The markets are experiencing wider swings, with the S&P 500 moving more than 1% in four of seven trading sessions, as heightened volatility associated with uncertainty over the outbreak in the second largest economy in the world.
“Today is really emblematic of what we’ve seen, this ebb and flow between headlines and fears,” Mark Hackett, chief of investment research at Nationwide, told the Wall Street Journal.
Bolstering gains on Tuesday, new data revealed global manufacturing was steadying and a helpful hand out of the People’s Bank of China to inject liquidity into the country’s banking system eased concerns.
A widely observed gauge showed that the U.S. manufacturing sector in January returned to growth. Additionally, data on Tuesday revealed new orders for manufactured goods increased in December at the fastest pace in over a year.
Meanwhile, the People’s Bank of China threw a total of 1.7 trillion yuan, or $242.74 billion, into the financial market through reverse repos, as the central bank sought to stabilize expectations and restore confidence.
“The market is just looking beyond coronavirus and they are cheering” China’s financial actions, Lindsey Bell, chief investment strategist with Ally Invest,” told Reuters.
“What history has shown us is anytime there is any sort of epidemic or some global threat from a virus standpoint, what we have seen is that the market will bottom…” Bell added. “Everybody is just looking past that, even though the market didn’t move that much lower on the news, at least here in the U.S.”
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