Coronavirus: Apple, Tesla among stocks rising on reopening hopes

As investors came back from the Memorial Day weekend Tuesday, shares of Bay Area companies such as Apple, Tesla and Cisco Systems rose amid broad enthusiasm for efforts to reopen the U.S. economy and another potential coronavirus vaccine.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed by almost 650 points, or 2.6%, to 25,111.81, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index rose by 1.2%, to 9,438.21. The broad-based S&P 500 rose by almost 2%, to 3,014.01, and get above the 3,000 point mark for the first time since March 5.

It was also a symbolic day for the stock market, as traders were allowed back on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange for the first time in two months. Because of social-distancing rules, only one-quarter of the NYSE’s traders are being allowed on the exchange floor at a given time.

Among notable Bay Area companies, Apple edged up by 0.3%, to $320.18 a share. A new report from tech research firm Gartner estimates that worldwide shipments of PCs, mobile phones and tablets, all which are products that Apple makes, will drop 13.6% this year due to the impact of coronavirus on consumers’ spending plans.

Tesla shares rose by 0.3%, to $819.53 a share. Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk was expected to be busy this week with his other major company, SpaceX, as it prepared for its first launch of NASA astronauts into space on Wednesday.

Cisco Systems shares rose almost 1%, to $45.33, while HP was up by 1.7% at $17.29 a share, Facebook edged up by 0.2%, to $235.27 a share, streaming TV company Roku rose 1.4%, to $110.10 a share and Intel shares climbed almost 2%, to $63.46.

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There was also enthusiasm across the market due to biotech company Novavax saying it has launched a clinical trial of a its potential coronavirus vaccine in Australia.