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* Boeing to resume airplane production in Washington state
* Gilead surges on report of positive data from COVID-19
trial
* Indexes rise: Dow 3%, S&P 500 2.7%, Nasdaq 1.4%
(Updates to close)
By Caroline Valetkevitch
April 17 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Friday and posted
gains for the week, helped by a surge in Boeing shares,
President Donald Trump's plan to reopen the coronavirus-battered
economy and hopes of a potential drug by Gilead to treat
COVID-19.
The Nasdaq rose 6.1% for the week and registered its
biggest two-week percentage gain since 2001.
Boeing BA.N shares soared nearly 15% on plans to restart
commercial jet production in Washington state after halting
operations last month due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some U.S. states were expected to announce timetables for
lifting restrictions, a day after Trump outlined guidelines for
a phased reopening of the devastated U.S. economy. The plans "provide some hope and optimism for folks and the
market and the whole economy. It's a start," said Gary Bradshaw,
portfolio manager at Hodges Capital Management in Dallas.
Bradshaw, who owns Boeing shares, said the planemaker's news
helped to lift optimism as well.
Gilead Sciences Inc GILD.O surged almost 10% following a
report that patients with severe symptoms of COVID-19, the
respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus, had responded
positively to its experimental drug, remdesivir. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 704.81 points,
or 2.99%, to 24,242.49, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 75.01 points,
or 2.68%, to 2,874.56 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added
117.78 points, or 1.38%, to 8,650.14.