U.S. stocks surged Wednesday as congressional leaders agreed to an $8.3 billion response to the coronavirus that will soon be voted on in the House.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 4.56%, gaining 1,180 points and erasing the over 700-point loss Tuesday.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq also closed up, 4.22% and 3.85%, respectively.
The agreed-upon spending bill will help fund testing kits, a vaccine, and local response efforts to deal with a coronavirus outbreak as well as low-interest loans for small businesses negatively impacted by the virus. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a Democrat from Maryland, expects the legislation will pass with bipartisan support.
“Today, I will bring to the House Floor a supplemental appropriations bill that will allocate $8.3 billion to help states, communities, and federal agencies combat the new coronavirus. I expect it to pass with strong, bipartisan support, a recognition of the challenge we now face as a nation in containing the spread of coronavirus and preventing further loss of life,” Hoyer said.
He added, “I hope the Senate will take up this emergency funding bill swiftly and send it to the President’s desk for approval before the end of the week.”
A big winner on Wednesday was Anthem Inc., with its stock price increasing over 14%. Another winner was UnitedHealth Group, with an over 11% increase in its stock price.
U.S. stocks opened strong Wednesday morning as Joe Biden secured his place as a presidential contender after winning nine states in Super Tuesday primaries and reassured voters that he could become the Democratic nominee.
Also helping the jump in stocks earlier on Wednesday was paycheck processor ADP reporting 183,000 jobs were created in February, beating expectations for around 170,000 new jobs.
