Stocks Ended Sharply Higher on Hopes of COVID-19 Treatment

U.S. stocks ended at their highest level in weeks on Wednesday as investors considered positive updates from Gilead over the results of a trial of its coronavirus treatment candidate. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 532.31 points, or 2.21%, to 24,633.86. The S&P 500 advanced 76.12 points, or 2.66%, to 2,939.51. The Nasdaq Composite gained 306.98 points, or 3.57%, to 8,914.71.

Oil futures settled higher on Wednesday, with U.S. benchmark prices rallying by 22% as government data showed a slightly smaller-than-expected weekly climb in domestic crude supplies, along with declines in gasoline stocks and oil production. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery rose $2.72, or 22%, to settle at $15.06 a barrel. June Brent crude added $2.08, or 10.2%, to $22.54 a barrel.

The Federal Reserve said Wednesday that it will keep interest rates at near-zero until the policymakers are “confident that the economy has weathered recent events.”

Facebook (FB) on Wednesday reported quarterly advertising revenue that spiked 17% year over year and a jump active users. Revenue was $17.74 billion vs. $17.3 billion expected. Monthly active users was 2.68 billion vs. 2.34 billion expected.

Microsoft Corp. outperformed the financial expectations that it faced even before the coronavirus in an earnings report Wednesday. It reported fiscal third-quarter earnings of $10.75 billion, or $1.40 a share, on sales of $35 billion Wednesday, up from profit of $1.14 a share on revenue of $30.57 billion a year ago.