. The small-cap Russell 2000 jumped 4.8% in its sixth-straight day of a more than 1%, the first such streak since 2000. The S&P energy sector jumped 7.4%. Tech is now 10.3% below its all-time high, but health care, consumer staples and consumer discretionary stocks all closed within 10% of their all-time highs.
"I think the market actually liked the news of remdesivir more than it cared about what Powell said," said Patrick Leary, chief market strategist at Incapital. Traders said even the bond market traded more on the positive headlines on Gilead's drug, than the worse-than-expected decline of 4.8% in the gross domestic product in the first quarter, which was reported about the same time Wednesday morning.
Michael Arone, chief investment strategist at State Street Global Advisors, said the market has moved even without details of all the Fed programs, and that's fine while the Fed fights the sharp economic decline. States have begun to open their economies in the past week, and investors have been watching to see if the openings can continue and whether business activity is picking up,
JamesGRickards