Bad news for GILD. Good news for PSTI - which just topped $10 again. My cheapest purchase from last Friday is now up 29 percent.
April 23, 2020
Stock market news live updates: Stocks cut gains after report Gilead's virus treatment disappoints in trial
by Emily McCormick and Javier E. David
Yahoo Finance
Stocks rapidly pared earlier gains Thursday afternoon after the Financial Times reported that a hopeful coronavirus treatment from Gilead (GILD) flopped in a trial.
The Chinese trial for Gilead’s antiviral drug remdesivir produced results that did not give meaningful conclusions on its efficacy, according to the Financial Times, and the study – which was remdesivir’s first randomized clinical trial – ended due to low enrollment.
Last week, a report that provided upbeat anecdotal data on remdesivir’s effectiveness in treating patients with COVID-19 in Chicago had sent stocks on a tear.
Investors also continued to digest Thursday’s initial unemployment claims report, which showed that millions more individuals filed for unemployment benefits last week.
Last week’s initial jobless claims totaled 4.427 million for the week, a fifth straight week that new unemployment claims were in the multi-millions, but the third straight week that the number of new claims fell relative to the prior week.
Since mid-March, new unemployment claims ballooned to more than 26 million, reflecting stunning levels of joblessness as workers were furloughed or laid off in troves amid pandemic-related business closures.
“It is clear that while the initial wave of job losses were concentrated in retail and hospitality due to the shutdowns, it is spreading to suppliers and to other industries,” James Knightley, chief international economist for ING, wrote in a note Thursday morning. “Terrible manufacturing surveys point to job losses and the business service sector is certainly not going to be immune.”
“It will be interesting to see what happens in the states that are re-opening parts of their economy from this weekend – Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina and Florida,” he added. “We would assume jobless claims will fall back sharply here, but if consumers remain reluctant to go shopping or visit a restaurant due to lingering Covid-19 fears, then employment is not going to rebound quickly. As such it would be another signal that a V-shaped recovery for the US economy is highly unlikely.”
Meanwhile, market participants hoped that a quick passage of further fiscal stimulus from Congress would blunt at least some of the economic damage from the coronavirus outbreak and help bring some back to company payrolls.
The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to pass a refunding package for the Paycheck Protection Program Thursday afternoon. The legislation would authorize another $320 billion for small business loans – after the original allotment for $349 billion ran out of funds in less than two weeks – and additional funding for hospitals and COVID-19 testing. The Senate cleared the package earlier this week.
Oil prices, roiled by wild volatility in recent days, steadied somewhat as steep selling abated from earlier in the week. June West Texas intermediate crude oil futures rose more than 25% to over $17 per barrel Thursday morning.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/stock-market-news-live-april-23-2020-221535573.html
Gold is $1,581/oz today. When it hits $2,000, it will be up 26.5%. Let's see how long that takes. - De 3/11/2013 - ANSWER: 7 Years, 5 Months
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