Dow Gains Over 200 Points to Begin May Recovery stocks had a strong start to the new month (and week) on Monday, sending the Dow higher by more than 200 points as investors remain encouraged by a solid earnings season and a rapid pace of vaccinations. They’re also feeling pretty good about Friday’s all-important jobs report. The Dow enjoyed the best performance of the day by advancing 0.70% (or nearly 240 points) to 34,113.23. The S&P rose 0.27% to 4192.66, but the NASDAQ slipped 0.48% (or about 67 points) to 13,895.12. Stocks are coming off a very impressive April that saw the S&P and NASDAQ each advance by more than 5%. The Dow was up 2.7%. We enjoyed strong earnings, solid economic data and a Fed that constantly reiterated its super dovishness throughout the month.