Shortest Bear Market in Dow's History Is Over

Index surges again and is up 20% in 3 days
By Newser Editors,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 26, 2020 3:03 PM CDT
Updated Mar 26, 2020 3:10 PM CDT
Market Booms Despite Jobs Misery
This photo provided by the New York Stock Exchange shows the unoccupied NYSE trading floor, closed temporarily for the first time in 228 years as a result of coronavirus concerns, on Tuesday, March 24, 2020.   (Kearney Ferguson/NYSE via AP)

A historic surge in jobless claims didn't keep the stock market down on Thursday. Quite the opposite, in fact, as the Dow rose more than 1,300 points, or 6.3%, and the S&P surged by a similar percentage. The Dow has risen three days in a row and is up more than 20% in that span—which CNBC notes is the best three-day surge since 1931. The percentage increase means the market just went from a bear back to a bull, marking the shortest bear market in history, reports the Wall Street Journal. Whether it remains that way in extreme volatility is the big question. For the day, the Dow rose 1,351 to 22,552, the S&P rose 154 to 2,630, and the Nasdaq rose 413 to 7,797.

The increase comes as the House prepares to pass the massive stimulus bill approved by the Senate, seen as all the more pressing because of the millions of Americans who have lost their jobs. “Investors believe data like today will make it more likely that the House will pass the stimulus bill,” Jeffrey Kleintop of Charles Schwab tells the Journal. "The deeper and the worse the numbers are in the near term, the more possibility there is for a [fiscal] response, which powers the rebound on the other side." (See how big your relief check will be.)

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