Stocks gain on coronavirus vaccine report optimism
The Dow is again in positive territory for the year
U.S. equity futures are adding to recent gains on a report of a breakthrough in the race to create a coronavirus vaccine.
The major futures indexes are indicating a rise of 0.9 percent when Wall Street opens for business.
A scientist working on UK research into a coronavirus vaccine says a breakthrough has been made in cutting down the development time from 2 to 3 years to just 14 days, according to Sky News.
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China, the world’s second-largest economy is in lockdown that is threatening economic growth there and globally.
More than 20,000 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed globally, along with over 400 deaths. The cases have been mostly in China.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I:DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGES | 43444.99 | -305.87 | -0.70% |
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 5870.62 | -78.55 | -1.32% |
| I:COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 18680.120875 | -427.53 | -2.24% |
Market gains follow Tuesday's broad rally on Wall Street that drove the Dow Jones Industrial Average more than 400 points higher and gave the S&P 500 its best day in more than five months.
The gains also pushed the tech-heavy Nasdaq to an all-time high and added to a solid start to February for the broader market after a downbeat January.
Investors welcomed a decision by China’s central bank to inject $57 billion into its markets.
Asian shares rose on optimism that China's latest actions may help curtail some of the expected economic damage from the virus outbreak.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei gained 1.0 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng edged up 0.4 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite gained 1.3 percent.
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In Europe, London's FTSE is rising 0.8 percent, Germany's DAX ajumped 1.3 percent and France's CAC 40 also added 1 percent.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.