Stocks start the week higher in spite of violent U.S. protests

There was a lot of uncertainty this morning. And stocks opened lower after a rough weekend in the U.S.

Protests over the death of George Floyd led to curfews in at least 40 cities across the U.S. and the National Guard was mobilized in 15 states.

There were also concerns about U.S. – China trade after reports that China has ordered some state-run agricultural firms were ordered to stop ordering American goods.

But after opening the day in negative territory, traders focused on the positive and the re-opening of the economy.

Stocks rallied after the lower open and pushed into positive territory about an hour into the trading day.

There was a small pullback, then another rally to session highs in the afternoon.

The NASDAQ led the way higher today, closing at its best level since February 21st. The NASDAQ is just 2.9% away from record highs.

Here’s where the major indices ended the day:

• The S&P finished with a 0.4% gain. Up 12 points, the S&P ended at 3,056.
• The DOW ended higher by 0.4%. Adding 92 points the DOW closed at 25,475.
• The NASDAQ was up 0.7%. With a 62 point gain the NASDAQ finished at 9,552.

Crude Oil (CL) dropped early on but finished the day slightly lower. Down 0.1%, Crude Oil finished at $35.47 a barrel.

Once again, stocks that benefit most from travel and the re-opening the economy were some of the biggest movers.

Carnival Corp (CCL) was up 6.7%, Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH) rallied 10.4%, and Royal Caribbean (RCL) saw a 7.3% gain. And Hilton (HLT) finished higher by 3.3% with Marriott (MAR) up 7.4%.

SpaceX made history over the weekend, after the company successfully launched U.S. astronauts into space for the first time in almost 10 years. It was the first time a private company to send humans into space.

SpaceX is a private company founded by Elon Musk. Musk’s public company Tesla (TSLA) had something to celebrate today as well, after the stock rallied 3.6% and finished with its best close since February 21st ($835 a share).