Dow Jones gains more than 280 points on Thursday

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 285.8 points higher on Thursday while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq each gained 1.5 percent and 0.8 percent respectively.

The gains came as the Federal Reserve announced plans to provide as much as $2.3 trillion in loans to support the economy. The announcement was made on the same day the Labor Department reported that about 6.6 million people filed for unemployment during the week that ended April 4.

The Dow has been on an upward trajectory for most of this week, posting a more than 1,600 point gain on Monday and a more than 700 point gain Wednesday, punctuated by a small 26 point decline Tuesday.

Much of the U.S. economy has been crippled amid the coronavirus crisis, but there is some hope that the situation will soon improve.

“Sentiment remains volatile, but there are signs that the virus is close to peaking in parts of Europe and the U.S., shutdowns in some countries are set to be gradually lifted in the coming weeks, and enough fiscal and monetary stimulus will be deployed to drive a recovery in growth once the shutdowns end,” Chief Investment Officer at UBS Global Wealth Management Mark Haefele stated in a note, according to USA Today.