Stocks surged on Wall Street in early trading, driving the S&P 500 to its highest level in nearly three months as hopes for economic recovery overshadow worries about the coronavirus pandemic.

The S&P 500 was up 1.8% to 3,007 points on Tuesday morning.

It is the first time the benchmark index has been above the 3,000-point mark since March 5, before the widespread business shutdowns aimed at slowing the spread of the outbreak sent the US economy into a sharp skid.

Financial Markets Wall Street
Andrew Cuomo before ringing the opening bell at the NYSE (Mark Lennihan/AP)

In another confidence-boosting development on Wall Street, the New York Stock Exchange reopened its trading floor on Tuesday for the first time since mid-March, when it closed due to the coronavirus outbreak.

New York governor Andrew Cuomo rang the opening bell at the NYSE, which allowed a limited number of traders back to the floor.

It required that traders adhere to social distancing guidelines and wear masks.

Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 558 points, or 2.3%, to 25,025.

It is the first time the Dow is above 25,000 points since March 10.

The post-Memorial Day rally followed a strong rise in global markets as more nations push to open their economies.

Reassuring comments by the head of China’s central bank helped spur buying.

France’s CAC 40 was up 1.4% as the government was due to unveil support for the car industry, while Germany’s DAX gained 0.9%.