NEW YORK (AP) – Stocks shot to a 3.4% gain on Wall Street Wednesday as investors chose to focus on the optimistic side of data about the coronavirus outbreak’s trajectory.
It’s the latest about-face in this brutally volatile stretch for the U.S. stock market, which has flip-flopped from gains to losses for six straight days. Just a day before, stocks had been headed for a similar gain only for it to vanish in the last minutes of trading.
The market’s upward swings have recently been bigger than the down moves, though, amid signs that deaths and infections may be nearing a peak or plateau in some of the world’s hardest-hit areas. That’s led some investors to envision the other side of the economic shutdown that is gripping the world as authorities try to slow the spread of the virus. The S&P 500 has jumped nearly 23% in the last two and a half weeks, building on earlier gains driven by massive amounts of aid promised by governments and central banks for the economy and markets.
Many analysts say they’re skeptical of the rally given how much uncertainty still remains. The death toll continues to rise, millions of people are still losing their jobs by the week and the economic pain is worldwide. France’s central bank said its economy entered a recession with a 6% drop in the first three months of the year.
But optimism rose in the market Wednesday after Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious diseases expert, said the White House is working on plans to eventually reopen the country. President Donald Trump later said it “will be sooner rather than later.”