Wall St. surges on promising coronavirus drug

Posted on April 29, 2020

The floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) stands empty as the building prepares to close indefinitely due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in New York

FILE PHOTO: The floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) stands empty as the building prepares to close indefinitely due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in New York, U.S., March 20, 2020. (REUTERS/Lucas Jackson)

U.S. stocks surged on Wednesday as expectations of an effective COVID-19 treatment prompted a broad rally and helped investors shrug off bleak GDP data and words of warning from U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI> rose 527.85 points, or 2.19%, to 24,629.4, the S&P 500 <.SPX> gained 76.17 points, or 2.66%, to 2,939.56 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> added 306.98 points, or 3.57%, to 8,914.71.