Dow Jumps 1.7%, Oil Soars 26% on Gilead Report, despite a 4.8% Contraction of US 1Q GDP

The U.S. economy contracted in the first quarter by 4.8% with the deepest decline since late 2008 as the coronavirus outbreak has shut down most of the American businesses, and the country is currently in the middle of a lockdown to contain the spreading of the virus.

 

Amid the negativity of the decline in US GDP, Dow Jones rose 426.34 points or 1.77% to 24,527.89 points after the first 30 minutes of the opening bell on April 29, 2020. S&P 500 jumped 2.03%, and Nasdaq advanced 2.47%. Analysts expected the surge in the U.S. market was due to the report of effectiveness in the study of Gilead’s remdesivir drug by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Gilead Sciences also released its own report of an improvement in patients taking the remdesivir drug as a treatment for coronavirus.

As of 21:15 local time in Thailand, WTI for June delivery jumped $3.21/bbl or 26.01% to $15.55/bbl. Meanwhile, the international benchmark Brent rose $1.74/bbl or 7.65% to $24.48/bbl.

However, the gold contract for June dropped $5.35 or 0.31% to $1,716.85 per ounce as investors switched to risky assets on optimism over lockdown easing and the slowdown in new coronavirus cases and death toll.