May 20 (UPI) — The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose more than 300 points on Wednesday as markets reacted to states continuing to reopen following measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The bellwether index climbed 369 points, or 1.52 percent, while the S&P 500 gained 1.67 percent and the Nasdaq Composite grew 2.08 percent.
Wednesday’s gains came as retail stores in Connecticut, the last state to lift coronavirus restrictions, were allowed to reopen with some guidelines including limiting occupancy to 50 percent and requiring masks to be worn at check-out counters.
Companies that would benefit from activities such as retail businesses and travel resuming saw increases on Wednesday. MGM Resorts stock grew 8.91 percent, Live Nation gained 6.45 percent and United Airlines rose 5.19 percent.
Tech stocks, which have helped lead the markets to gains amid the pandemic in recent weeks also performed well with Facebook stock rising 6.04 percent and Amazon increasing 1.98 percent.
The S&P 500 and the Dow rose 3 percent for the week and the Nasdaq increased 4.5 percent for 2020 after markets slid on Tuesday amid poor performance by retail and bank stocks after a strong start to the week.
