Wall Street rally loses steam after report on coronavirus drug trial; main US stock indexes trim gains
FirstpostWall Street was in positive territory on Thursday but surrendered strong earlier gains after a report that an experimental antiviral drug for the coronavirus flopped in its first randomized clinical trial. All three main US stock indexes trimmed increases of over 1 percent, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq briefly turning negative after the Financial Times reported that a Chinese trial showed that Gilead Science’s remdesivir did not improve patients’ condition or reduce the pathogen’s presence in the bloodstream. The energy index rose 3.2 percent, easily leading the 11 S&P 500 sectors as oil prices recovered in a tumultuous week that saw US crude futures crash below zero for the first time in history. A survey showed US business activity plumbed new record lows in April, mirroring dire figures from Europe and Asia as strict stay-at-home orders crushed production, supply chains and consumer spending.