A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York, the United States, March 18, 2020.
Michael Nagle | Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images
All eyes are on Congress to pass a much-needed stimulus bill to rescue the economy from the coronavirus damage. The stock market is staging a turnaround with futures on the major indexes all briefly hitting “limit up” levels. Here’s what’s happening:
7:30 am: Travel, airline stocks surge
Some of the stocks worst hit in the coronavirus sell-off have gained steam in pre-market trading Tuesday. With potential relief for the aerospace industry getting closer, Delta Airlines rose 9.6% pre-market, while United climbed 8.9%. Boeing gained 9.8%. Gambling stocks Wynn Resorts and MGM Resorts jumped 7.5% and 9.3%, respectively. Royal Caribbean‘s stock surged 8.6%, while shares of hotel company Hilton rose 7.4%. Darden Restaurants, down about 60% for the year, gained nearly 8%. — Pound
7:22 am: Coronavirus global cases top 387,000
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases around the world has surpassed 387,000 with deaths breaking above 16,000, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. In the U.S. alone, cases have shot up to more than 46,000 while deaths total nearly 600. Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee issued a stay-at-home order on Monday to curb the virus outbreak. In the UK, residents are now in lockdown. — Imbert
7:20 am: Trump says US businesses will reopen ‘fairly soon’
President Donald Trump is eager to get U.S. businesses operating again even as his administration battles the coronavirus and health officials are encouraging Americans to stay home. During a news briefing Monday, Trump vowed, “At some point we’re going to open up our country, and it will be fairly soon.” Asked whether that would be weeks or months, he said, “I’m not looking at months.” The U.S. has seen 46,450 coronavirus cases so far and nearly 600 deaths. – Cox
7:15 am: Stock futures hit ‘limit up’
Stocks are set to rally as optimism rose that a fiscal stimulus deal could be reached as soon as Tuesday. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 930 points, or 5%, hitting the so-called “limit up” levels, the upper trading curb mandated by the exchange to tame volatility. Contracts on the S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 were also up 5% and “limit up.” The S&P 500 SPDR ETF was up 5.3% in premarket trading.
The premarket moves followed another painful day for stocks with the Dow hitting its lowest closing level since November 2016 and wiping out its Trump-era gains briefly.
With reporting from CNBC’s Jeff Cox.
Subscribe to CNBC PRO for exclusive insights and analysis, and live business day programming from around the world.