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Stocks Climb on Virus Drug Hope

Equities in Canada’s largest centre rose on Friday, as reports of a potential drug to treat COVID-19 heightened demand for riskier assets, while U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to reopen the country's economy gradually added to the bounce.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index leaped 249.19 points to kick off the week’s final session at 14,148.51

The Canadian dollar eased 0.02 cents to 71.20 cents U.S.

Newmont Corp’s CEO says the company is looking to restart some of its Canadian and South American gold mines shut last month to curb the spread of the new coronavirus.

Newmont shares fell back $3.10, or 3.7%, to $81.65.

National Bank of Canada cut the rating on Air Canada to sector perform from outperform. Air Canada soared 76 cents, or 4.4%, to $17.86.

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Berenberg raised the target price on Maple Leaf Foods to $27.00 from $25.00. Maple Leaf shares galloped $1.38, or 5.7%, to $25.76.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 0.77 points to 446.63

All but two of the 12 TSX subgroups were positive in the first hour, with consumer discretionary stocks sprinting 5.1%, while financials and real-estate each pulled away from the competition 3%

The two laggards were in gold, down 2.8%, and materials, off 1.1%.

ON WALLSTREET

tocks surged after a report said a Gilead Sciences drug showed some effectiveness in treating the coronavirus, giving investors some hope there could be a treatment solution that helps the country reopen faster from the widespread shutdowns that have plunged the economy into a recession.

The Dow Jones Industrials popped 522.88 points, or 2.2%, to open Friday at 24,060.56, and was on pace for its first close above 24,000 since March 10.

The S&P 500 gained 58.14 points, or 2.1%, to 2,857.69

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The NASDAQ Composite jumped 139.19 points, or 1.7%, to 8,532.36.

The moves put the S&P 500 on track for its first back-to-back weekly gains since early February. The S&P 500 has risen 2.3%, while the NASDAQ Composite climbed 5.8%, lifted by double-digit gains in Amazon and Netflix. The 30-stock Dow was up about 1.5% this week.

A jump in Boeing shares and a rollout Thursday evening of the White House plan to reopen the economy also added to the bullish tone on Friday.

Gilead shares jumped more than 10% after STAT news reported that a Chicago hospital treating coronavirus patients with remdesivir in a trial were recovering rapidly from severe symptoms. The publication cited a video it obtained where the trial results were discussed.

Boeing shares jumped about 9% after the airplane maker said it would resume production in the Seattle area as early as April 20.

President Donald Trump said Thursday that "our experts say the curve has flattened and the peak … is behind us."

He also issued guidelines to open up parts of the U.S. Thursday night, which identifies the circumstances necessary for areas of the country to allow employees to start returning to work. The decision to lift restrictions will ultimately be made by state governors.

Prices for the 10-Year Treasury gained, lowering yields to 0.60% from Thursday’s 0.62%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil prices dropped $1.78 to $18.09 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices fell $14.20 to $1,717.50 U.S. an ounce.