US stock markets climbed late Tuesday, with global equities registering their biggest advance since the coronavirus roiled financial markets a month ago.
This, as the US House of Representatives zeroed in on a $2 trillion relief program to curb the pandemic's economic toll. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 11 percent - its biggest daily gain since 1933.
The S&P 500 enjoyed its best days since the 2008 financial crisis, rising more than 9 percent. The rally follows several days of declines driven by a global economic slowdown.
Conversely, markets have struggled to respond well with the statements from the Federal Reserve. They had another bad day instead of rebounding, with the Dow Jones climbing just a little as analysts expected. The recession, however, has other causes.
The US House is at odds with the rest on the $2 trillion assistance package to cushion the damage from the health crisis. House Republicans have criticized the Democrats of adding needless changes to the legislation, although the Democrats have protested that the legislation is not going far enough.
There are expectations that talks that extended through the night will require approval of the bill on Wednesday. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said an agreement was "very close" to an assistance package that investors hoped would turn around markets reeling from the biggest downturn since more than a decade after the global financial distress.
After Wall Street's series of declines came the market rebound, Tuesday. At least initially, the promise of unrestricted bond buying by the Federal Reserve to help avert a global depression failed to reassure skittish investors.
The mood changed later on the day, with US gold futures climbing as high as 6.7 percent to $1,672.60 an ounce and the US dollar halting its steady rise as the developments by the central bank and others eased the need for cash and slashed dollar demand.
The advance led some market observers to suggest a pummeling that has dented U.S. and European bonds by approximately 30 percent in the last 30 days may be about to end. "We are witnessing some indications that a bottoming is about to take place," Neel Shah, senior trader at Peak6 Capital Management, noted.
The next big step, he pointed out, is Congress giving the nod on the much-hyped stimulus bill. U.S. and European stocks were up 7 percent or more and the US currency index and a host of major trading currencies, fell.
