Dow declines Thursday but closes April with more than 11 percent monthly gain

The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Thursday concluded the month of April by falling 288.14 points, but the index still posted an 11.1 percent gain overall this month.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq on Thursday fell 0.9 percent and 0.3 percent respectively, but they closed the month with significant gains of 12.7 percent and 15.5 percent respectively.

“Investors are currently subjected to tragic nightly news stories and souring economic indicators, and yet markets have recently seen through the negativity and posted strong returns,” said CUNA Mutual Group's Scott Knapp, according to CNBC. “Markets are now digesting actual data reflecting the reality of the pandemic and extrapolating it forward.”

"Previously, all markets could evaluate is anecdotes from news headlines and forecasts produced by models. The actual data has been more hopeful versus expectations set by the headlines and models," Knapp said.

While states are moving toward reopening after imposing restrictions meant to curb the spread of coronavirus, the nation has taken a significant economic hit during the pandemic.

More than 3.8 million people filed for unemployment during the week ending April 25, bringing the total number of people who have filed for unemployment over a six-week period to more than 30 million.

The nation's Gross Domestic Product declined 4.8 percent during the first quarter of 2020, the Bureau of Economic Analysis revealed on Wednesday. That is the first quarterly decline since 2014 and the worst quarterly drop since 2008.

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday announced that it will keep the target range for the federal funds rate between 0 percent and 0.25 percent due to poor economic conditions resulting from the coronavirus pandemic.