Wall Street taken for a wild ride

The Dow gained 39.44 points, or 0.17{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f}, to close at 23,515.26. The S&P 500 lost 0.05{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} to 2,797.80. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.01{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} to 8,494.75. Wall Street was taken for a ride that highlighted the importance of  finding a treatment for the coronavirus.

The Financial Times said  — citing documents accidentally published by the World Health Organization — that Gilead Sciences’ drug remdesivir did not improve patients’ condition or reduce the coronavirus pathogen in their bloodstream. Those findings, according to the report, came from a clinical trial in China. Gilead took exception with the report, saying: “it was underpowered to enable statistically meaningful conclusions.” The back-and-forth knocked the major averages from their session highs and briefly pushed the Nasdaq and S&P 500 into negative territory.

Gilead shares dropped 4.34{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} after the FT’s report was published. Energy stocks rose broadly following another surge in oil prices. Chevron rose 2.79{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} while Exxon Mobil advanced 3.13{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f}. The S&P 500 energy sector climbed 3.01{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f}.

Consumer sentiment and durable goods data are set for release Friday. Verizon and Sanofi are scheduled to report earnings.  

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