Wall Street Close: Bulls looking through the pain, seeing an economic recovery

• Dow Jones Industrial Average ended higher by 560 points, or 2.4%, at 23,950. 
• S&P 500also ended higher with a 3.1% gain at 2,846.
• The Nasdaq was adding around 4% to finish at 8,515.

US benchmarks ended higher on Tuesday with a rally in technology shares, despite the slew of poor corporate earnings in the face of COVID-19 lockdowns. Investors prefer to bet on the US economy emerging out of the crisis pertaining to a recovery in the population and the COVID-19 curve flattening. 

Consequently, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended higher by 560 points, or 2.4%, at 23,950 and the S&P 500also ended higher with a 3.1% gain at 2,846. The Nasdaq Composite Index meanwhile, booked its fourth straight gain and rallied out of bear-market territory, adding around 4% to finish at 8,515. Amazon.com made a record high and lifted the index and we had strong gains in  Tesla Inc. and Google-parent Alphabet.

The great lockdown

Analysts at ANZ Bank explained that the IMF’s April World Economic Outlook makes for sobering reading. "The global economy is forecast to contract 3% in 2020, much worse than the 0.1% decline in 2009 and a 6.3%pt downgrade since January. Their base assumption that the pandemic fades in the second half of 2020 and containment efforts can be gradually unwound is expected to see global growth rebound 5.8% in 2021. However, this would still leave a cumulative loss in global GDP over the next two years of around USD9trn."

DJIA levels