Yahoo Finance Massive jump for ASX on coronavirus treatment hopes
Australian stocks have finished April with a massive jump.
The last day of the month saw the All Ordinaries finish a whopping 2.45 per cent up, to hit 5,597.70 points. The ASX200 wasn’t far behind, soaring to the tune of 2.39 per cent on Thursday to reach 5,522.40 points.
That means April 2020 closed as a ripper rebound month for shareholders, with the All Ords gaining an incredible 5.8 per cent and the ASX200 jumping 5 per cent.
That leaves the stock market about 23 per cent down from the all-time highs in February, after hitting a trough in late March.
What happened at lunchtime?
The Australian stock market has rallied on Thursday, with both major indices well up at lunchtime.
The ASX200 index was 1.11 per cent up for the day at 12:05pm AEST, while the All Ordinaries was 1.19 per cent in the green at the same time.
Technology, energy and materials companies led the charge on Thursday morning, according to AAP.
What happened this morning?
Australian shares have climbed higher at the start of trade on Thursday morning.
The ASX200 index has jumped 1.19 per cent after the first 11 minutes of trade, following the lead of US markets overnight.
The All Ordinaries index, which takes in a broader range of public companies, was also up 1.3 per cent at that time.
The upward push comes after promising test results of a potential treatment for the coronavirus pandemic was announced in the US.
What happened overnight?
On Wednesday night Australian time, US company Gilead Sciences revealed promising results in treating COVID-19 with its drug Remdesivir.
The test outcomes were "highly significant if you look at the time to recovery", said the US federal government's top infections expert Dr Anthony Fauci.
Despite an earlier WHO study showing ineffective results with the same drug, Wall St ran with the new hope.
All three major US share indices soared higher, with the Dow Jones up 2.21 per cent, the S&P500 climbing 2.66 per cent, and the NASDAQ gaining 3.57 per cent.
That sent the SPI200 futures up 2.01 per cent as of 8am AEST, indicating that the ASX would open higher on Thursday morning.
– with AAP
Follow Yahoo Finance Australia on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.
