How did the stock market hit a record amid COVID-19 fueled recession? Here's what experts say about the rebound

Stephanie Schill, a married mother of two, was worried about her retirement savings when the coronavirus pandemic pummeled the global economy in the spring.Schill, a marketing manager for a dental company in Johnsburg, Illinois, said the firm cut her salary by a quarter and eliminated her 401(k) match to conserve cash and reduce layoffs. While retirement accounts saw sharp swings in the second quarter due to the uncertainty surrounding the outbreak, investors boosted their IRA contributions, driving record-breaking flows to retail retirement accounts while contributions to 401(k) plans remained steady, according to Fidelity Investments.Bouncing back:Retirement savers cash in after shrugging off stock market woes in the spring'Insulin or groceries':How reduced unemployment affects struggling Americans from California to MississippiSo why is the stock market at records while the U.S. economy is in one of the sharpest economic downturns since the Great Depression?Here’s what the experts say: Stocks staged a stunning turnaround propelled by Big Tech as trillions of dollars in stimulus aid from the Federal Reserve and Congress helped prop up an American economy gripped by recession. And in a sign that the U.S. economy is faring better than experts initially expected, the Citigroup Economic Surprise Index, which gauges the frequency that economic data beats Wall Street expectations, has hovered at all-time highs recently.The stock market has remained resilient in the face of the downturn. The S&P; 500 has averaged a 46% return in the 12 months following the start of a new bull market, according to research firm CFRA, which analyzed data going back to 1932.But any setback in the timeline for developing a vaccine could challenge the stock market's rebound, experts caution.