Stocks tick higher as Wall Street looks beyond police brutality protests

Stocks opened with modest gains Tuesday as investors looked past nationwide protests against police brutality and toward a second-half economic rebound from the devastation spurred by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened with a gain of roughly 100 points, rising around 0.4 percent after the fourth night of demonstrations across American cities, some of which were broken up by police with tear gas and rubber bullets. The S&P 500 ticked less than 0.1 percent higher, while the Nasdaq composite opened with a loss of 0.15 percent.

The stock market has steadily climbed from crashing earlier in the year as states begin to lift restrictions that have prompted business closures and other measures taken to slow the spread of COVID-19. The steady rise also comes as the Federal Reserve pumps trillions of dollars of liquidity into financial markets.

Wall Street has ramped up its bets on a third-quarter recovery from the economic crisis driven by the pandemic despite rising jobless claims, lagging unemployment and stimulus checks, a potential wave of evictions and severe financial pressure across several industries. The May jobs report set to be released Friday is likely to show the unemployment rate rising toward 20 percent, closing in on the 25-percent peak seen during the Great Depression.

While economists have cited increases in consumer activity as a positive sign, they also warn that a second wave of the virus would derail the U.S. again and plunge the country into a deeper crisis.

The market’s rebound also comes after President Trump deployed the U.S. military to quell protests over police brutality in Washington, D.C., and warned he would do so nationwide if governors did not use greater force to disperse demonstrations. 

Fifteen minutes before a citywide curfew took effect, police officers fired tear gas and smoke bombs at protesters gathered outside of the White House on Monday night, clearing the way so Trump could stage a photo opportunity outside of a historic church.