NEW YORK, June 8 — US stocks continued last week’s rally as trading opened today, buoyed by ebbing civil unrest and state measures to reopen their economies following the coronavirus shutdowns.

About 30 minutes after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.8 per cent to 27,336.55, and the broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.2 per cent to 3,200.42.

Bucking the trend, the tech-rich Nasdaq retreated 0.3 per cent to 9,780.94 after reaching a new intraday trading high shortly after the session began.

Last week was a banner week for Wall Street, which has been clawing back gains since plunging in March as the US economy shuttered to stop the spread of Covid-19.

Plenty of uncertainty remains: unemployment has surged to 13.3 per cent — and likely higher — consumer confidence is weak, key sectors like manufacturing remain depressed and civil unrest over the killing of black Americans have led to massive, but mostly peaceful, protests nationwide.

But investors have seized on moves by states to restart economic activity to varying degrees, benefiting industries that were badly affected by the shutdowns and fueling hope the US economy will rebound.

United Airlines was up 8.6 per cent and American climbed 8.1 after both announced last week they were adding flights in coming months amid signs demand is recovering.

Carnival Cruise Line, which in May said it would resume limited operations from August, was up 13.2 per cent. — AFP