Wall Street surges on Trump confidence in research for coronavirus treatment

The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged by 850 points Tuesday morning after President Donald Trump expressed confidence in new research for coronavirus treatments, and said the economy would be back on track “sooner than people think.”

The S&P 500 was up by 3.2 percent and the Nasdaq ticked upwards by 2.7 percent, solid gains on the heels of Monday’s performance. The Dow ended the day with a gain of more than 1,600 points on Monday, with all three major averages closing up by around 7 percent.

“Let’s win this and let’s get our country [back] as soon as we can,” Trump said Monday night during a coronavirus task force briefing. He announced that 10 potential treatments are in the trial phase, with another 15 therapeutics also likely to be tested.

Traders were also digesting the implications of a Jan. 29 memo from Trump’s top trade adviser Peter Navarro, which warned that millions of Americans could die if the viral outbreak was not rapidly contained.

“The lack of immune protection or an existing cure or vaccine would leave Americans defenseless in the case of a full-blown coronavirus outbreak on U.S. soil. This lack of protection elevates the risk of the coronavirus evolving into a full-blown pandemic, imperiling the lives of millions of Americans,” Navarro wrote.

Markets were also watching news from London, after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was moved to an ICU due to worsening coronavirus symptoms. Johnson “remains in good spirits” and has not been placed on a ventilator, according to his office.

Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary and first secretary of state, who has led emergency meetings in Johnson’s place, has been officially deputized to fill in where necessary.

The British pound, which had been gaining ground after parts of Europe saw a decrease in the number of coronavirus cases, tumbled again Tuesday on political uncertainty in the U.K.