Stocks Opened Higher on Hopes of COVID-19 Treatment

U.S. stocks surged higher at open 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 lately rose 390.52 points, or 1.62%, to 24,492.07. The S&P 500 gained 53.39 points, or 1.86%, to 2,916.78. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 165.80 points, or 1.93%, to 8,773.54.

Gilead Sciences, Inc. said that its experimental COVID-19 therapy remdesivir met the main goal in a government-funded clinical trial and that a shorter dosing regimen was as successful as a longer one in a separate study.

The collapse in the U.S. economy caused by the coronavirus pandemic triggered the biggest drop in gross domestic product in the first quarter since 2008. GDP shrank at a 4.8% annual pace from the beginning of January to the end of March, the government said Wednesday.

Later Wednesday afternoon, the Federal Reserve will release its latest monetary policy decision.