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Investing.com — U.S. stock markets opened higher again on Tuesday as faith in an economic recovery next year gained traction, spurring fresh interest in beaten down cyclical stocks.
By 9:40 AM ET (1440 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 318 points, or 1.1%, at 29,909 points. The S&P 500 was up 0.6% and the NASDAQ Composite was again – relatively speaking – a laggard, flat on the day.
Stocks across the board reacted positively to the nomination of former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen as Treasury Secretary by President-elect Joe Biden. Yellen is synonymous with the largely successful reflation of the U.S. economy after the Great Recession and investors expect her to commit again to an expansionary fiscal policy to overcome the current crisis, having argued for just that recently in a conference speech.
There was also some uplift from the latest sign that President Donald Trump is abandoning his efforts to cling on to the White House, despite his ongoing tweets to the contrary. In the wake of Michigan’s decision to certify its election results on Monday, the president is now allowing Biden and his team access to the resources necessary for a smooth handover of power.
