Dow leaps 400 points at opening, despite GDP contraction

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 400 points Wednesday morning. The S&P 500 added 2%.

Main U.S. indexes are climbing despite a Commerce Department report before the markets opened that indicated the country's GDP contracted 4.8% during the first quarter of 2020.

Investors are hopeful that Gilead Science's Remdesivir drug will be a mainstream treatment for the coronavirus after it passed initial rounds of study conducted by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb spoke positively of the drug's potential impact this morning.

"So far all the data we've seen accrue does suggest that there's a treatment effect here," he said.

Later this afternoon, Chairman of the Federal Reserve Jerome Powell will hold a virtual press conference, from which investors expect to glean a better understanding of how long the fed plans to keep interest rates near zero.

Oil prices climbed overnight, continuing a pattern of volatility. WTI is trading at $14 a barrel, and Brent crude is trading at $21 a barrel.

European stocks rallied on Wednesday,