Wall Street ended Thursday's session with benchmarks closing will little change after investors trading closely alongside reports about Gilead Science's (NASDAQ: GILD) potential coronavirus treatment. According to The Financial Times, Gilead's drug remdesivir did not improved patients' conditions or reduce the virus in their bloodstream in an accidentally leaked clinical trial from China. However, Gilead took exception from the report, stating that the clinical trial "was underpowered to enable statistically meaningful conclusions." Market participants pulled the market back and forth due to the headlines, ultimately bringing benchmarks close to positive territory at the close of Thursday' session.
Investors seem to be focusing more on news surrounding potential treatments and viral containment, rather than economic reports and corporate earnings. On Thursday, initial jobless claims reported an additional 4.4 million individuals who filed for unemployment, erasing the total number of jobs created since the Great Recession.
Here's how the market closed on Thursday:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): -0.05% or -1.51 points to 2,797.80
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): +0.17% or +39.44 points to 23,515.26
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): -0.01% or -0.63 points to 8,494.75
In Major Stock News, Invesco (NYSE: IVZ) tanked during Thursday's session after the asset manager reported lackluster quarterly results. Energy stocks--Chevron (NYSE: CVX), Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) and Apache (NYSE: APA)--continued to rise with the market as investors are more confident towards oil relief. Entertainment stocks like Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ: WYNN) and Live Nation (NYSE: LYV) followed Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) lead after the casino company disclosed in its quarterly earnings that it will continue its previously scheduled capital expenditure programs, despite the coronavirus pandemic.
In Stock Sector News, sector performance on Thursday was mixed as investors moved with the volatile trading session. Those that posted positive performance include Energy +3.01%, Industrials +0.77%, Communication Services +0.71%, Materials +0.54%, Health Care +0.48% and Consumer Discretionary +0.32%. The rest that posted negative performance were Utilities -1.76%, Real Estate -1.19%, Consumer Staples -1.02%, Information Technology -0.69% and Financials -0.43%.
In Commodity and Currency News, oil prices continue to increase after Monday's historic fall. West Texas Intermediate (NYSE: USO) rose +4.42% to end the day at $17.23 per barrel and Brent Crude (NYSE: BNO) gained +4.71% to close at $21.33 per barrel. Gold (NYSE: GLD) also continued to increase during the economic uncertainty, with the metal's price increasing +0.67% to close at $1,750.00. Finally, the U.S. Dollar (NYSE: UUP) ended Thursday unchanged.
For Friday, investors are more likely to follow headlines surrounding the reopening of the economy and potential treatments for COVID-19. In addition, consumer sentiment and durable goods economic data are set to be released, as well as earnings from Verizon (NYSE: VZ) and Sanofi (NASDAQ: SNY).