Friday's Stock Market Open: US Equities Rise On Hopes For Effective Treatment For Coronavirus

Update: 12:05 p.m. EDT:

U.S. stocks traded higher as of Friday noon, but below early session highs.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 375.76 points to 23,913.44, while the S&P 500 rose 40.28 points to 2,839.83 and the Nasdaq Composite Index edged up 41.14 points to 8,573.50.

In Europe markets closed higher, as Britain’s FTSE-100 gained 2.82%, France’s CAC-40 jumped 3.42% and Germany’s DAX rose 3.15%.

However, WTI crude futures plunged 8.51% to $18.18 per barrel.

Original story:

U.S. stocks rose on Friday on hopes for an effective treatment for coronavirus.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 604.85 points to 24,142.53, while the S&P 500 gained 59.23 points to 2,858.78 and the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 113.86 points to 8,646.23.

A drug developed by Gilead Sciences (GILD), remdesivir, showed some effectiveness in treating coronavirus patients in a Chicago hospital.

“An effective treatment is a huge deal and would create a path to open the economy and resume normal ‘social activities’ way sooner than a vaccine,” said Tom Lee, head of research at Fundstrat Global Advisors. “A treatment is safer and more scalable because it is only given to people who need to be treated.”

“Remdesivir sounds like something that can get people out of hospitals quickly,” tweeted Jim Cramer of CNBC. “That allows our economy to have a fighting chance. I think that remdesivir would cut the morbidity ... which would change how quickly we can open... and what we can do.”

“If it is effective in keeping someone from contracting the virus or, more likely, simply reduces its severity, that would be a game-changer and [would] allow the economy to restart both more quickly and more fully,” said Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at The Leuthold Group.

Procter & Gamble (PG) said that U.S. sales in its fiscal third-quarter surged by 10% as consumers bought up staples.

China said its gross domestic product shrank 6.8% in the first quarter, its worst quarterly performance since at least 1992.

“The market is a bit optimistic right now,” David Bailin, chief investment officer at Citi Private Bank, said on Bloomberg TV. “Ultimately we have to have really great coordination in order to see any real improvement in the economy.”

Overnight in Asia, markets finished higher. China’s Shanghai Composite edged up 0.66%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 1.56% and Japan’s Nikkei-225 jumped 3.15%.

In Europe markets were higher, as Britain’s FTSE-100 gained 3%, France’s CAC-40 jumped 3.76% and Germany’s DAX rose 3.37%.

Crude oil futures plunged 10.72% at $17.74 per barrel, Brent crude rose 0.61% at $27.99. Gold futures slipped 0.6%.

The euro rose 0.3% at $1.0871 while the pound sterling edged up 0.28% at $1.2493