Join +750K new investors every month who copy stock picks from billionaire's portfoliosSign Up Free

Stocks - Dow Posts Second-Biggest Point Gain on Biden Bounce

Published 04/03/2020, 21:03
Updated 04/03/2020, 21:22
© Reuters.
US500
-
DJI
-
CI
-
ELV
-
HUM
-
UNH
-
UAL
-
IXIC
-
CNC
-
AAL
-

By Yasin Ebrahim

Investing.com – The Dow racked up its second-biggest point gain on record Wednesday, driven by a surge in healthcare stocks as former Vice President Joe Biden's race for the Democratic presidential nomination gained traction following a surprisinly strong Super Tuesday performance.

The S&P 500 surged 4.22%, the Nasdaq Composite gained 3.85% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 4.53%, or 1,173 points.

With his campaign widely believed to be on the brink of collapse a few weeks ago, Biden won ten of the 14 states in which voters cast ballots on Super Tuesday, setting up a close race for the Democratic presidential nomination against Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Healthcare stocks surged as Biden's strong showing eased the prospect of a Sanders victory, which many fear would trigger major disruptions for the industry with a Medicare for All policy.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) surged 10.8%, Anthem (NYSE:ANTM) rose 15.6%, Centene (NYSE:CNC) was up 15.5%, Humana (NYSE:HUM) gained 14.5 and Cigna (NYSE:CI) rose 10.7%.

The surge in stocks came against signs the novel coronavirus spread continues to accelerate in the U.S.

New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo confirmed five more infections in the state, raising the number of cases in the state to 11, and nearly 130 nationwide, with 11 deaths reported so far.

The virus outbreak has wreaked havoc on travel demand, prompting United Airlines (NASDAQ:UAL) to cut domestic and international flights for April.

United Airlines rose 2% on the day, with American Airlines (NASDAQ:AAL) 3.9%.

Energy stocks, meanwhile, shrugged off a decline in oil prices to rise more than 2% day.

Sentiment was also boosted by better-than-expected services sector activity, which drives the bulk of economic growth.

ISM nonmanufacturing data for February showed an uptick to 57.3, beating expectations of 54.9. This represents the highest reading for the service sector index since February 2019.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.