U..S. stocks kicked off the week higher early Monday, as the number of coronavirus cases and deaths rose and investors assessed efforts to contain the pandemic and cushion the economy against the impact of a near-lockdown of activity across much of the U.S. and around the world.
President Donald Trump, in a Sunday evening news briefing, extended social-distancing guidelines through April 30.
Trump last week had indicated a desire to begin lifting restrictions by Easter Sunday, on April 12.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 238 points, or 1.1%, at 21,876, while the S&P 500 index advanced 1.5% at 2,577, and the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 1.5% at 7,613.
World-wide, there are now 724,945 cases of COVID-19 and at least 34,041 people have died, according to aggregated data from Johns Hopkins University.
Source : Market Watch