Stocks jump on hopes of coronavirus treatment, Dow up 600 points; European stocks close higher after ‘positive’ coronavirus drug trials; Deutsche Bank up 12%; BELEX15 ends with symbolic 0.1% drop; 
Stocks jumped Wednesday on the back of positive data from a potential coronavirus treatment from Gilead Sciences, while investors digested a sharp drop in U.S. economic activity. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 622 points, or 2.6%. The S&P 500 gained 3.1% while the Nasdaq Composite traded 3.9% higher. The major averages held onto their gains after the Federal Reserve pledged to keep rates lower for as long as needed.
Sentiment was also lifted as Alphabet shares gained 8.7% after the tech giant reported a revenue growth decline that was less steep than forecast. The company’s YouTube ad revenues also beat expectations. Other mega-cap tech stocks such as Facebook climbed 6.5%. Amazon gained 2.1% while Apple advanced 3.3%.
The Gilead news along with the strong move higher from Alphabet offset news of a steep drop in U.S. economic activity. U.S. GDP shrank by 4.8% in the first quarter for the country’s biggest contraction since the financial crisis. The Fed kept interest rates at the near-zero bound on Wednesday, noting it will maintain its historically aggressive stance for as long as the economy needs it.

European markets closed higher on Wednesday after Gilead Sciences claimed it was seeing “positive data” from trials of its drug remdesivir as a coronavirus treatment. The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed around 1.8% higher provisionally, with most sectors and major bourses in positive territory.
It was a busy day for earnings in Europe with Airbus, Deutsche Bank, Barclays, GSK, Standard Chartered and Volkswagen all reporting. 
Barclays posted a 42% fall in first-quarter net profit attributable to shareholders year-on-year, and opted to take a £2.1 billion ($2.62 billion) credit impairment charge, as it attempts to anticipate the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. Barclays shares climbed almost 15% on the back of strong results from its investment banking division.
Standard Chartered reported a 12% fall in profit attributable to shareholders, as the emerging-markets-focused bank cited encouraging early signs of economic recovery in China. Standard Chartered shares traded nearly 12% higher.
Deutsche Bank swung to a first-quarter loss of 43 million euros and allocated a provision of 260 million euros to deal with potential loan losses as a result of the coronavirus crisis. The bank’s stock was up around 12%.
In terms of individual share price moves, AMS surged more than 24% after its first-quarter earnings report, in which the Austrian chipmaker projected limited impact from the coronavirus in the second quarter.

Serbian BELEX15 was down only symbolic 0.11% as Metalac lost 1.5%. NIS remained the most active with RSD 1.4min volume, while its price change was positive (+0.4%). Some small volume was seen at Komercijana, Tehnogas and Alfa Plam, while they were all with no major changes in a stock prices. Bonds were pretty active with EUR 29.5m in volume.
The European Commission is announcing over EUR 3.3 billion of EU financial support mobilized jointly with the European Investment Bank to the benefit of the Western Balkans' citizens. This package aims to address the immediate health and resulting humanitarian needs of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as help with the social and economic recovery – the press release adds.
Source: CNBC, Ilirika