Gilead Sciences gave an encouraging update on a potential Covid-19 treatment, while upbeat earnings reports from Boeing and Google-parent Alphabet added to the sentiment Wall Street stocks jumped early Wednesday as Boeing and Google parent Alphabet rose after earnings reports, offsetting the hit from a poor US first-quarter economic report.
Stocks were also supported by favorable comments by biotech company Gilead Sciences, which is developing a drug to treat coronavirus.
About 15 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.7 percent at 24,509.20. The broad-based S&P 500 gained 1.9 percent to 2,918.06, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 2.3 percent to 8,802.74.