Dow Soars Nearly 2,000 Points In Rebound From Biggest Drop Since 1987

Updated at 4:18 p.m. ET

It was a lucky Friday the 13th for Wall Street.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared 1,985 points, more than 9%, on the same day President Trump declared a national emergency to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. It closed at 23,185. The S&P 500 index also jumped more than 9%, closing at 2,711.

The rebound comes just one day after the blue chip stock index posted its biggest drop since the Black Monday crash of 1987.

Trump said the emergency declaration would free up as much as $50 billion for state and local governments to deal with the coronavirus. He also asked every state to set up emergency operations centers.

Investors are hopeful as Congress appears to be getting closer to passing a measure to help cushion the blow of the coronavirus pandemic, which has jammed up or shut down many parts of the U.S. economy. The European Commission announced several economic measures as well.

And the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank are taking aggressive steps to help banks and other businesses.

The Trump administration announced a series of measures intended to speed up testing for the coronavirus disease COVID-19.

On Thursday, the Dow fell 2,352 points, or about 10% — its biggest one-day drop since the Black Monday crash of October 1987.

Major stock indexes are down at least 20% from their recent record highs, which puts the in bear market territory after an 11-year winning streak. The Dow has fallen nearly 6,400 points since Feb. 12.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.