US STOCKS-Wall Street jumps on hopes of potential coronavirus drug

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* Gilead's says drug shows improvement in COVID-19 patients
* Alphabet jumps as drop in Google ad sales steady
* Boeing up, says confident in obtaining liquidity
* U.S. economy contracts 4.8% during Q1
* Indexes up: 1.75%, S&P 500 2.05%, Nasdaq 2.71%

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By C Nivedita and Shreyashi Sanyal
April 29 (Reuters) - Wall Street jumped on Wednesday as
Gilead Sciences gave an encouraging update on a potential
COVID-19 treatment and upbeat earnings from Google-parent
Alphabet boosted shares of other technology and internet giants.
Gilead GILD.O rose 4.8% after the drugmaker said its
experimental antiviral drug remdesivir helped improve symptoms
for COVID-19 patients who were given the drug early.
"The news on Gilead is really powering the market," said
Linda Duessel, senior equity strategist at Federated Hermes in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
"While we wait for a vaccine, we are looking out for
anything that will help us get back into society, and we're all
hanging on this data on a day-by-day basis."
The three main indexes have recovered 30% from their
mid-March lows, boosted by aggressive stimulus efforts and, more
recently, on hopes of an economic revival as many U.S. states
begin to relax lockdown measures.
Growth stocks such Facebook Inc FB.O , Apple Inc AAPL.O ,
Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O and Netflix Inc NFLX.O gained between
2% and 6%, while Alphabet Inc GOOGL.O surged 8.6% as its
quarterly report showed Google ad sales steadied in April.
The S&P 500 communication services sector index .SPLRCL
jumped 4.6%, the most among the 11 major sub-indexes.
Boeing Co BA.N reported a loss for the second straight
quarter, but its shares rose 3.7% after the planemaker said it
would cut jobs and try to boost liquidity.
Analysts foresee a sharper decline in second-quarter
earnings, with companies listed on the S&P 500 expected to
record a 35.1% decline in profits following a 15% drop in the
first quarter, according to Refinitiv data.
Meanwhile, markets shrugged off data that showed the U.S.
economy contracted in the first quarter at its sharpest pace
since the Great Recession, ending the longest expansion in
history. "The economic data is backward-looking and markets will
continue to be forward-looking," said Chris Zaccarelli, chief
investment officer at Independent Advisor Alliance in Charlotte,
NC.
Markets are trying to anticipate a resumption of economic
activity in the short run and a vaccine in the medium term, he
said.
At 10:18 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
up 422.64 points, or 1.75%, at 24,524.19, the S&P 500 .SPX was
up 58.81 points, or 2.05%, at 2,922.20 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC was up 233.27 points, or 2.71%, at 8,841.01.
General Electric Co GE.N fell 1% after its industrial
businesses took a $1 billion hit to cash flow in the first
quarter and it warned the damage would worsen in the next.
All eyes will be on the policy statement by the Federal
Reserve at the end of its two-day meeting at 2 p.m. EDT (1800
GMT). The policymakers are expected to keep their promise to do
whatever it takes to support the world's largest economy.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 6.70-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 4.25-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded two new 52-week highs and no new
lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 26 new highs and no new lows.