Wall Street woke up in a good mood Monday morning.

Fueled by a couple bits of news that investors felt was good, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 647 points, the S&P rose 2.05%, and Nasdaq opened 1.74% higher.

Here’s a big reason why. The new COVID-19 relief package President Biden sent to the House passed by a vote of 219 to 212.  Once formally finalized, that is going to trigger $1,400 stimulus checks to most Americans and keeps unemployment benefits intact.

The other news that motivated investors was the single shot COVID-19 vaccine from Johnson & Johnson that was approved by the FDA.  Doses are being shipped out already.

The gains were almost across the board on Monday, as only stocks win the entire S&P 500 were trading lower.  The NYSE showed that for every stock that declined on Monday, 11 stocks were higher.

Overall for the month of February, the Dow was up 3.15%.  The S&P final numbers for February were 2.61% higher, and the Nasdaq gained almost 1%.

 

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