Market Bounces Back Up After Thursday's Plunge

The stock market had its worst day in months on Thursday, but Friday is looking much better on Wall Street. The Dow was up more than 700 points, nearly 3%, in the first half-hour of trading, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq had similar gains. This time, no single bit of good news seemed to be behind the rebound, and CNBC notes that these kinds of big swings can be expected in the near future because a closely watched volatility index has risen to a relatively high mark. Friday's rise comes after the Dow plunged nearly 7% on Thursday.

“We can’t discount the fact that there is a lot of money sitting on the sidelines,” Brian O’Reilly of Mediolanum International Funds tells the Wall Street Journal. “It’s a trading market at the moment—more than a long-term fundamentals market—so on any setback like yesterday, you’re likely to see people come in and bid the market higher.” Companies such as Carnival cruises and American Airlines were performing well on Friday, a signal that investors may be regaining some confidence in the reopening of the economy. (More stock market stories.)