The S&P 500 wiped out all its 2020 losses Monday as traders grew more optimistic about the prospects of an economic recovery while states continue to re-open.

Stocks finished the day at session highs, with the S&P 500 jumping 1.2% and turning positive for the year after bouncing about 50% off its March low.

Stocks tied to the re-opening of the economy led the gains once again. Airlines, retailers and cruise lines were higher. United was up 9.7%. Kohl’s added 5.8%. Shares of Carnival Corp. were up more than 12.4%.

Wall Street was also riding high on the back of a surprise surge in U.S. employment. The Labor Department said Friday the economy added 2.5 million jobs in May, a record. Economists polled by Dow Jones had forecast a drop of more than 8 million.

All in, the S&P 500 is up 10.3% over the last month and 8.75% over the last three months. Much of those gains have been thanks to the so-called re-opening trade, those stock that would benefit the most if all the Covid-19 pre-cautions and business closures were removed.

Netflix — a stock that benefited from people staying at home and has under-performed in recent weeks — slid 0.3% on Monday and added to a 3.69% loss for the month. Amazon — up 6% over the last 30 days — is also under-performing the S&P 500 over the last month, up 6.07% versus the market’s 10.3%.

Job openings data and small-business optimism numbers await investors on Tuesday while companies Chewy, GameStop and Tiffany are slated to reported quarterly earnings.
 

Plan A : Long if market supported firm above 3197.50. Targets are 3222.50, 3241.75 and 3259.25.

Plan B : Short if market failed to support above 3197.50. Targets are 3170.25, 3150.25 and 3129.75.

Futures contracts tied to the major U.S. stock indexes held steady in early morning trade on Tuesday as investors hoped to extend the S&P 500′s gains after the index returned to positive territory for the year during the regular session.

Dow futures dipped 5 points, suggesting an opening decline of just around 31 points when regular trading resumes on Tuesday. S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures also pointed to a little changed Tuesday open.

The Dow surged 6.8% last week while the S&P 500 jumped 4.9%. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 3.4%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq was the first of the three major indexes to trade back at all-time highs since the coronavirus pandemic shuttered the global economy.

The Nasdaq Composite gained 1.1% on Monday and hit its own fresh high, bringing its year-to-date advance to 10.6%. 

Traders say the market’s hot streak over the last two months is in large part thanks to confidence about the re-opening of the U.S. economy and a barrage of government stimulus.

Plan A : Long if market supported firm above 9827.25. Targets are 9859.25, 9875.25 and 9900.50.

Plan B : Short if market failed to support above 9827.25. Targets are 9795.50, 9760.75 and 9735.50.

Plan D : Cut below 26425.

HSI

Hong Kong stocks erased all gains to end flat on Monday, as losses in healthcare stocks countered strength in materials firms.