Markets continue upward trend with eye to recovery

Stock markets on Monday opened up as investors bet on a strong recovery as the country ends coronavirus-related lockdowns.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up over 200 points, or 0.8 percent, and the S&P 500 increased 15 points, to 0.5 percent, in the first minutes of the week’s trading.

Stocks have recovered significant ground after falling dramatically in March, a drop which ended an 11-year bull market and the longest period of consecutive growth in the country’s history.

An unexpectedly strong jobs report on Friday, which showed the unemployment rate dropping from 14.7 percent to 13.3 percent, dramatically boosted markets and investor sentiment.

Economists had expected the unemployment rate to jump as high as 20 percent, a level not seen since the Great Depression.

Despite the bubbly stock market, analysts say unemployment will remain elevated for a significant time, and could stay above 10 percent into 2021.