Market news, S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures were well off their lows, trading down 0.3% and 0.1%, respectively.
The ECB said Thursday it will increase its Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme by 600 billion euro, bringing the program’s total to more than 1 trillion euro. The ECB’s stimulus measures come as the Federal Reserve and other central banks around the world take action to curb the economic blow from the coronavirus pandemic.
These measures, along with hopes of the global economy reopening, have lifted equity prices around the world. The iShares MSCI ACWI ETF — which tracks stocks globally — has rallied more than 40% since hitting an intraday low on March 23. The S&P 500, meanwhile, is up over 42% in that time.
The market is “focusing on signs that a reopening recovery—juiced by federal spending and monetary easing—is taking hold,” said Ed Yardeni, president and chief investment strategist at Yardeni Research. “The market is treating the recent calamity as if it were a natural disaster rather than a severe recession.”
U.S. markets kicked off June with blistering gains, with the Dow up 3.49% over the first three trading days of the month. The S&P 500, meanwhile, posted Wednesday its longest winning streak since February.
The Nasdaq 100 index, which tracks the 100-largest non-financial companies in the Nasdaq Composite, stands 0.3% below a record set on Feb. 19. The index has rallied more than 43% from an intraday low set on March 23. The Nasdaq Composite, meanwhile, is just 1.58% below its all-time high.
