Stocks around the world whipped higher Wednesday, riding a wave of optimism on encouraging data about a possible treatment for COVID-19.
The upswell of hope was so strong that investors completely sidestepped a report showing the outbreak drove the U.S. economy to its worst quarterly performance since the Great Recession. The S&P 500 vaulted 2.7% higher and extended a rally that’s brought the U.S. stock market to the brink of its best month in 45 years.
The spark for Wednesday’s rally was a report that an experimental drug proved effective against the new coronavirus in a study run by the National Institutes of Health. The nation’s top infectious diseases expert said the drug reduced the time it takes patients to recover, and it raised hopes that life around the world may eventually tiptoe back toward “normal.”
The S&P 500 rose 76.12 points to 2,939.51. It has surged 13.7% in April, and it’s a day away from closing out its best month since late 1974.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 532.31, or 2.2%, to 24,633.86, and the Nasdaq climbed 306.98, or 3.6%, to 8,914.71.