What Crash? Dow Jones Surges 600 Points on AmEx, Goldman, Boeing Stock Gains
Whew. After yesterday's steep sell-off, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI) is up almost 2%, gaining 601 points at 3:07 p.m. EDT on July 20. Today's gains are a relief for many investors, who were concerned that yesterday's decline could be the beginning of a double-digit decline for the stock market due to the delta variant coronavirus surge.
But alas, calmer heads are prevailing today. Shares of some of yesterday's biggest losers, American Express (NYSE: AXP) and Boeing (NYSE: BA), are up more than 4% today, while Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) shares are up over 3%. Banking behemoth JPMorgan Chase's (NYSE: JPM) shares are up 2%, offsetting much of yesterday's declines.
Yesterday's sell-off was certainly stoked by fears that the global economic recovery was at risk of a retraction. This was a key reason why bank stocks like American Express and Goldman Sachs fell; by and large, a healthy, growing economy is key to their prospects for growing profits. Yet at the same time, we have learned that the biggest banks fared relatively well during the 2020 recession. Losses from loan defaults have been much smaller than expected, and the quick actions to bolster their balance sheets last spring prepared them well to ride out the massive economic shock of the global economy being essentially shut down.
Source Fool.com
