New York (AFP)

The New York Stock Exchange, spurred by the gradual recovery of the economy in the United States, ended sharply higher Monday, taking the Nasdaq to a new record.

The highly technological index rose 1.13% to 9.924.75 points, erasing all the losses generated by the health crisis.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the leading Wall Street index, meanwhile gained 1.70% to close at 27,572.44 points.

The S&P 500, which represents the 500 largest companies on Wall Street, gained 1.20% to 3,232.39 points, occasionally returning to its level at the start of the year.

"The equity market is soaring because investors believe that we are at the start of a new economic cycle, that the recession has restarted growth even more" as it was beating a bit before the pandemic, says Maris Ogg, portfolio manager for Tower Bridge Advisors.

This stock market euphoria contrasts with the current situation in the United States, where unemployment remains at an extremely high level and where indicators have shown for several weeks that activity has been hit hard by the Covid-19 and the measures taken to halt its progress.

The economic cycles dating committee of the National Bureau of Economic Research announced Monday that the longest economic expansion in the history of the United States had abruptly ended in February.

In addition, the country is beset by major protests against racism and police brutality that led several cities to impose curfews last week.

But investors focus mainly on the gradual recovery of activity in the United States, symbolized on Monday by the start of deconfinement in New York, at the center of the epidemic for several weeks.

Exactly 100 days after confirmation of the first case in the American economic capital, construction companies and factories in the American economic capital began to resume work.

Businesses should see their activity start again. Those with the most to gain from a return to normal were up sharply on Monday, like the airlines United Airlines (+ 14.8%), American Airlines (+ 9.3%) or Delta (+8 , 2%).

The aircraft manufacturer Boeing also jumped (+ 12.20%), driving the Dow Jones of which it is one of the most important members.

In addition, notes Maris Ogg, the indices are rising because "we know that the Federal Reserve is there, and that the other central banks will hold up".

Investors have indeed benefited greatly from the support provided by the American Central Bank, which has injected massive amounts of money since the start of the pandemic to ensure the proper functioning of the markets and facilitate corporate borrowing.

© 2020 AFP