Stocks stabilized on Tuesday after the market’s worst point drop in history, with major indexes recovering more than 5% on the news of the Federal Reserve offering help for small businesses and the administration proposing a $1 trillion economic relief plan from the coronavirus pandemic.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1,049 points, or 5.2%, to close at 21,237.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq was up more than 6.2%, and the S&P 500 rose nearly 6%.The indexes had lost about 12% on Monday, with the Dow falling nearly 3,000 points, on concerns about the pandemic.
The Fed said it would provide emergency commercial loans of up to $1 trillion through an entity last used during the financial crisis of 2008.
“That has created significant stability in the market today,” Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin said.
The White House also proposed a relief plan that would include direct payments of at least $1,000 to most Americans, plus hundreds of billions in aid to businesses.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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