US markets end higher on Wednesday

06 Feb 2020 Evaluate

The US markets ended higher on Wednesday, extending the rally seen over the course of previous sessions, on the heels of reports of breakthroughs in the developments of treatments for the coronavirus. A private report noted traders are pointing to a Chinese TV report indicating a research team at Zhejiang University has found an effective drug to treat people with the new virus. Other private report also said that a leading British scientist has made a significant breakthrough in the race for a coronavirus vaccine by reducing a part of the normal development time from two to three years to just 14 days. Traders seemed to ignore the response by the World Health Organization, which stated there are no known treatments against the virus. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump said that the US is working closely with the Chinese government to contain the virus. Confirmed coronavirus cases in China are near 25,000, claiming the lives of 490 people.

On the economic data front, with a jump in the value of imports outpacing an increase in the value of exports, the Commerce Department released a report showing the US trade deficit widened in the month of December. The Commerce Department said the trade deficit widened to $48.9 billion in December from a revised $43.7 billion in November. Street had expected the deficit to widen to $48.2 billion from the $43.1 billion originally reported for the previous month. Besides, indicating a modestly faster rate of growth in US service sector activity in the month of January, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) released a report showing an increase by its non-manufacturing index. The ISM said its non-manufacturing index rose to 55.5 in January from a revised 54.9 in December, with a reading above 50 indicating service sector growth. Street had expected the non-manufacturing index to inch up to 55.1 from the 55.0 originally reported for the previous month.

Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 483.22 points or 1.68 percent to 29290.85, Nasdaq gained 40.71 points or 0.43 percent to 9508.68 and S&P 500 was up by 37.1 points or 1.13 percent to 3334.69.

© 2026 The Alchemists Ark Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved. MoneyWorks4Me ® is a registered trademark of The Alchemists Ark Pvt. Ltd.

×