US Stock futures up more than 200 points as oil Prices decline

Possibility of Re-opening the Global Economy

The US stock futures ended on a high on Sunday night. The investors are assessing the possibility of re-opening the global economy after the coronavirus outbreak. Dow Jones Industrial Average Futures increased by 254 points, implying a Monday opening gain of around 244 points. Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 futures also pointed to higher Monday open for the two indexes. West Texas Intermediate futures were down more than 9% at $15.39 per barrel. Wall street is coming off its first weekly decline in three as a record plunge in oil prices took the investors by a surprise. Both the Dow and S&P 500 fell over 1% last week while the Nasdaq Composite dipped 0.2%. 

States Planning to re-open Economy in Phases

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Sunday that the state plans to re-open its economy in phases. The first phase would involve New York’s construction and manufacturing sectors. As part of the second phase, businesses will need to design plans for a re-opening that would include social distancing practices and having personal protective equipment available. He also noted that the coronavirus related hospitalizations have fallen for 14 days and the deaths in New York hit a near one month low. 

COVID-19 Impacting the Businesses

Shelter-in-place orders and social distancing guidelines forced thousands of businesses to shut down starting in March as the federal and state governments tried to contain the coronavirus outbreak. Nearly 3 million cases have been confirmed worldwide with over 900,000 in the US, according to data from John Hopkins. The outbreak and subsequent business closures have sparked a wave of job losses. Data from the Labor Department shows that more than 26 million people have filed for unemployment benefits over the past five weeks. 

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