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US stocks rallied Wednesday as the apparent success of an experimental coronavirus treatment boosted Wall Street’s hopes for an end to the crisis. The Dow Jones industrial average surged as much as 547.64 points, or 2.2 percent, to 24,649.19, after Gilead Sciences said it was aware of “promising data” from a government-backed study of remdesivir, …
US stocks rallied Wednesday as the apparent success of an experimental coronavirus treatment boosted Wall Street’s hopes for an end to the crisis.
The Dow Jones industrial average surged as much as 547.64 points, or 2.2 percent, to 24,649.19, after Gilead Sciences said it was aware of “promising data” from a government-backed study of remdesivir, its antiviral drug being tested in coronavirus patients. Shares in the California-based company jumped 6.7 percent on the news, to a high of $83.97.
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq also posted gains as large as 2.5 percent and 3.1 percent, respectively, following Gilead’s statement, which came alongside results from a separate trial showing that COVID-19 patients who got a five-day course of remdesivir showed similar improvement to those who got 10 days of treatment.
The progress added to investors’ optimism that the worst of the coronavirus crisis is over now that some US states are starting to reopen their economies. It also appeared to help Wall Street shrug off the sharpest decline in US gross domestic product since the Great Recession.
Gilead’s announcements were “additional good news that also shortens how long the economy may have to close,” said Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at the Leuthold Group. “It reduces the risk of restarting economic activity, and when you do that it makes GDP news like this morning’s very, very dated.”
Incremental news about remdesivir has whipsawed Wall Street this month as investors anxiously awaited a potential treatment for the deadly coronavirus. But the drug’s future is not set in stone — Gilead admitted that it has not yet been approved anywhere in the world.
The company said the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which is running a double-blind study of remdesivir, would provide detailed information about its trial at an upcoming briefing.
“Optimism is growing that Remdesivir will get fast track approval, but traders need to exercise some caution as it has yet to be proven safe nor effective in treating COVID-19,” OANDA senior market analyst Ed Moya said in a commentary.
