Stocks rebound amid fiscal and monetary stimulus plansDow +1048.86 at 21237.38, Nasdaq +430.19 at 7334.14, S&P +143.06 at 2529.19 [BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 rebounded 6.0% on Tuesday, as investors reacted positively to additional monetary stimulus measures and the possibility of an estimated $1 trillion fiscal stimulus package. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 5.2%, the Nasdaq Composite rose 6.2%, and the Russell 2000 rose 6.7%. The plan from the White House reportedly includes $500-550 billion for direct payments or tax cuts to Americans, $200-300 billion for small business assistance, and $50-100 billion for airline industry relief. The administration is also considering support for homeowners whose income was cut due to the coronavirus, according to Bloomberg. The Fed, meanwhile, established a temporary commercial paper funding facility to help alleviate strains induced on commercial paper markets. Companies typically acquire short-term financing from this market. The Treasury Secretary approved the decision and will provide the Fed $10 billion in credit protection and the ability to purchase up to $1 trillion in commercial paper if needed. Elsewhere, efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 continued to be made: NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio said New Yorkers should be prepared for an order to "shelter in place," the EU temporarily closed external borders, and Apple ($AAPL 252.63, +10.42, +4.3%) extended store closures outside Greater China until further notice. Despite the stimulus plans, and preventative measures, it was a defensive-minded rally led by the S&P 500 utilities (+13.1%), consumer staples (+8.4%), and real estate (+6.9%) sectors. The energy sector (+0.7%) underperformed amid continued weakness in the price of oil ($27.02/BBL, -1.83, -6.3%). This defensiveness might be attributed to an understanding that economic disruptions will continue to lead to a negative, and currently unquantifiable, impact to the economy. This was painfully manifested in Marriott ($MAR 75.24, -11.18, -12.9%) starting to furlough workers without pay. On a related note, Facebook ($FB 149.42, +3.41, +2.3%) said it would give $1000 to employees. Separately, the slight underperformance of the Dow was mainly due to the loss in shares of Boeing ($BA 124.14, -5.47, -4.2%), which had its S&P credit rating downgraded to BBB due to weaker cash flows. President Trump did say he wants to help the company, though. U.S. Treasuries sold off in a curve-steepening trade, not because of a better economic view but because of worries that longer-dated bonds will be needed to fund a rising deficit. The 2-yr yield rose eight basis points to 0.45%, and the 10-yr yield rose 27 basis points to 1.00%. The U.S. Dollar Index rose 1.7% to 99.81. Reviewing Tuesday's economic data, which was wasn't fully representative of current conditions caused by the coronavirus: Total retail sales declined 0.5% m/m (Briefing.com consensus +0.1%) following an upwardly revised 0.6% increase (from 0.3%) in January. Excluding autos, retail sales were down 0.4% m/m (Briefing.com consensus +0.1%) after an upwardly revised 0.6% increase (from 0.3%) in January.The key takeaway from this report is that it reflected soft spending activity before the the coronavirus impact (and reaction) truly hit the U.S. That's not comforting knowing that the retail sales data in March is going to be absolutely awful.Industrial production increased 0.6% m/m in February, as expected, following a downwardly revised 0.5% decline (from -0.3%) in January. Total capacity utilization was 77.0% (Briefing.com consensus 77.1%) following a downwardly revised 76.6% (from 76.8%) in January.The key takeaway from the report is that the good feelings about the pickup in output in February will be stunted by the reality that March output is apt to look much worse given the economic shutdown measures employed to help curb the spread of the coronavirus.The NAHB Housing Market Index for March declined to 72 (Briefing.com consensus 74) from 74 in February.The January Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey showed job openings increase to 6.963 million from a revised 6.552 million in December (from 6.423 million).Business inventories decreased 0.1% in January, as expected, while the December reading was unrevised at 0.1%. Looking ahead, investors will receive Housing Starts and Building Permits for February and the weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index on Wednesday. Nasdaq Composite: -18.3%S&P 500: -21.7%Dow Jones Industrial Average: -21.4%Russell 2000: -33.7% Market Snapshot Dow21237.38+1048.86(5.20%)Nasdaq7334.14+430.19(6.23%)SP 5002529.19+143.06(6.00%)10-yr Note -26/321.087NYSEAdv 1695 Dec 1174 Vol 2.0 blnNasdaqAdv 2216 Dec 1101 Vol 4.8 bln Industry Watch Strong: Utilities, Consumer Staples, Real EstateWeak: Energy Moving the Market -- S&P 500 rebounds 6% amid monetary and fiscal stimulus plans-- Trump administration proposing $1 trillion stimulus package, which will include direct payments to Americans -- Fed establishes temporary Commercial Paper Funding Facility to alleviate strain on commercial paper market-- Defensive-oriented sectors led the rebound rallyECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., retail sales dropped 0.5% overall, and fell 0.4% ex-autos, in February, which was below expectations. Industrial production bounced 0.6% in February amid strength in autos and utilities. Business inventories dipped 0.1% in January, with sales rising 0.6%. The NAHB housing market index fell 2 points to 72 in March. The Federal Reserve Board announced that it will establish a Commercial Paper Funding Facility, or CPFF, to support the flow of credit to households and businesses. Meanwhile, CNBC reported that the White House is seeking a stimulus package worth anywhere from $850B to over $1T as the Trump administration seeks to combat the economic impact from the coronavirus pandemic. An administration official told CNBC that the package could include $500B-$550B in direct payments or tax cuts, $200B-$300B in small business assistance, and $50B-$100B in airline and industry relief. Potentially $250B of the package could go toward making direct payments to Americans, according to CNBC. The report follows comments by U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who said that the White House is looking at sending checks to Americans "immediately," as they "need cash now." In Europe, EU leaders agreed to restrict most travel into the continent. The restrictions, which will apply to all non-EU citizens, will initially last for 30 days. TOP NEWS: Amid the ongoing fallout from the coronavirus outbreak, several Dow members announced steps to react to the crisis. Boeing ($BA) issued a statement on Monday night, stating in part: "America's aerospace industry - which supports over 2.5 million jobs and 17,000 suppliers - is facing an urgent challenge resulting from the coronavirus pandemic. The long term outlook for the industry is still strong, but until global passenger traffic resumes to normal levels, we're taking steps to manage the pressure on our business...Meanwhile, ready short term access to public and private liquidity will be one of the most important ways for airlines, airports, suppliers and manufacturers to bridge to recovery, and we appreciate how the Administration and Congress are engaging with all elements of the aviation industry during this difficult time." ExxonMobil ($XOM) announced that it is "looking to significantly reduce spending as a result of market conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and commodity price decreases." McDonald's ($MCD) said that all of its company-owned restaurants in the U.S. will close seating areas, including the use of self-service beverage bars and kiosks, and shift focus to serving customers through Drive-Thru, walk-in take-out and McDelivery. In other store closure news, Apple ($AAPL) announced in a post on its website that its retail stores outside of China "are closed until further notice." Macy's (M) said earlier this afternoon that it will temporarily close all stores by the end of business today. Additionally, The Wall Street Journal reported that Marriott ($MAR) will start to furlough what it anticipates will be "tens of thousands" of employees as it ramps up hotel closings worldwide. Meanwhile, Oppenheimer analyst Rupesh Parikh upgraded Walmart ($WMT) to Outperform from Perform with a $125 price target, calling the stock "A Place to Hide and Potentially Outperform" in the current environment. Shares of Amazon ($AMZN) were on the rise after the company announced that it will hire an extra 100,000 employees in the U.S. as people are turning to online shopping at a breakneck pace to help contain the outbreak of COVID-19. Additionally, in a post to its Amazon Services Seller Forums, the company stated that it is temporarily prioritizing household staples, medical supplies, and other high-demand products coming into its fulfillment centers "so that we can more quickly receive, restock, and deliver these products to customers" amid increased online shopping due to the virus outbreak. In other coronavirus news, Uber ($UBER) and Lyft ($LYFT) have both started suspending shared rides on their platforms in the U.S. and Canada in an effort to limit the spread of the virus, according to media reports. As people turn to online shopping as the COVID-19 pandemic continues, Costco ($COST) announced that it has completed the acquisition of Innovel Solutions, a provider of third-party end-to-end logistics solutions with nationwide capabilities. Regeneron ($REGN) announced the latest progress in its efforts to discover and develop a novel multi-antibody cocktail that can be administered as prophylaxis before exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus or as treatment for those already infected, stating that its scientists have now isolated hundreds of virus-neutralizing, fully human antibodies from the company's genetically-modified VelocImmune mice, Additionally, Regeneron has also isolated antibodies from humans who have recovered from COVID-19, in order to maximize the pool of potentially potent antibodies, the company announced. MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers were BioNTech ($BNTX), which rose 66.5% after the company and Pfizer ($PFE) announced that they would co-develop a potential COVID-19 vaccine. Also higher was Coupa Software ($COUP), which gained 25.2% after it reported quarterly results. In addition, Clorox ($CLX) was 13.3% higher again. The company recently said it is "making as many products as possible" in an attempt to combat the pandemic. Among the notable losers was DBV Technologies ($DBVT), which plunged 55.7% after the company announced that the FDA informed it that during its ongoing review of the Biologics License Application, or BLA, for investigational Viaskin Peanut, it identified questions regarding efficacy, and canceled the May 15 Allergenic Products Advisory Committee, or APAC, meeting to discuss the BLA. Also lower was L Brands ($LB), which fell 13% after said it will temporarily close stores in the U.S. and Canada and withdraw its Q1 earnings guidance amid COVID-19 uncertainty. Source: (Briefing.com)(theFly.com) Disclosure: I may trade in the ticker symbols mentioned, both long or short. My articles represent my personal opinion and analysis and should not be taken as investment advice. Readers should do their own research before making decisions to buy or sell securities. 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