Stocks roar back behind government’s virus plan
NEW YORK — Wall Street roared back from its worst day in 30 years Friday with a broad rally that sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average nearly 2,000 points higher — its biggest point gain ever — after President Donald Trump declared the coronavirus pandemic a national emergency.
Fueled by a late-day surge while Trump was speaking, the Dow saw its largest percentage gain since 2008. The rally recouped many of the losses from a day earlier, when the index experienced its worst slide since the Black Monday crash of 1987. The major indexes each closed with gains of more than 9%.
The session capped a dizzying week on Wall Street, with wild swings driven largely by uncertainty over how much damage the coronavirus would cause to the global economy. By Thursday, the Dow had suffered two drops of more than 2,000 points and the longest-ever bull market had ended.
Then on Friday stocks rallied, shooting sharply upward in the last half-hour of trading as investors appeared to gain confidence that the Trump administration has a plan to combat the outbreak from both a health care and economic perspective.
Despite Friday’s pickup, the market still ended the week with its secondworst weekly loss in the past 10 years. In just a few weeks, U.S. stocks have lost all the gains made during 2019.
Gates stepping down from Microsoft board
REDMOND, Wash. — Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates said Friday he is stepping down from the company’s board to focus on philanthropy. Gates was Microsoft’s CEO until 2000 and since then has gradually scaled back his involvement in the company he started with Paul Allen in 1975.
He transitioned out of a day-to-day role in Microsoft in 2008.