Morning Report 27 May 20: US stocks advance as investors focus on V-shaped recovery

US sharemarkets rose on Tuesday. Travel-related stocks soared, with the S&P 500 index up 13.5%, led by United Airlines (+16.3%) as US states begin opening up their economies. Shares of Novavax (+4.5%) and Merck (+1.2%) both lifted after they announced separate plans to develop and test COVID-19 vaccines. But reports that the US was considering sanctions on Chinese firms and officials over the situation in Hong Kong reduced index gains. At the close of trade, the Dow Jones index rose by 530 points or 2.2%. The S&P500 index was up by 1.2%. And the Nasdaq index rose by 15 points or 0.2%. 

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