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Dow surges, gaining 1,200 points in massive comeback rally

Wall Street rebounded on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining a record number of points.
Image: Traders work on the floor at the NYSE in New York
Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York on March 2, 2020.Brendan McDermid / Reuters

The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged on Monday, gaining over 1,200 points in a comeback rally that represented the blue-chip index's best one-day point gain in history.

The Dow's performance was in stark contrast to the 3,500-point loss it suffered last week. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq also soared on Monday, gaining around 4.5 percent by the closing bell.

The rally came as Wall Street traders were bullish after French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said G7 finance ministers would convene via conference call on Tuesday to discuss the virus and coordinate an economic recovery plan.

Last week was the worst performance for all three major averages since the financial crisis, with the S&P 500, the Nasdaq, and the Dow all entering correction. Markets were down for seven straight days, with the Dow hitting its biggest ever drop on Thursday, with a record decline of 1,190 points.

The sell-off was fueled by rising uncertainty about the coronavirus epidemic, and came amid multinational companies abandoning or downgrading their forecasts for 2020 due to near-paralysis in their supply chains, production lines and cargo shipping.

The stock market has ratcheted up a 38 percent gain since President Donald Trump came into office, though that stood at 61 percent prior to last week's meltdown.