Stocks gave up earlier gains on Friday as investors wrapped up another volatile week that featured unprecedented moves in the oil market.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gave up earlier gains and shed 36.64 points by noon EDT to 23,478.62
The S&P 500 nosed up 1.08 points to 2,798.88.
The NASDAQ Composite regained 11.48 points to 8,506.23.
The major stock averages were on track to post modest weekly losses due to a steep sell-off earlier in the week triggered by the collapse in oil markets. The Dow was down 2.8% for the week, while the S&P 500 fell 2.6%.
Stocks were taken for a wild ride on Thursday after The Financial Times reported — citing documents accidentally published by the World Health Organization — that Gilead Sciences’ drug remdesivir did not improve coronavirus patients’ condition. The documents cited by the FT referred to a Chinese clinical trial.
Gilead noted that study was “terminated early due to low enrollment,” leaving it “underpowered to enable statistically meaningful conclusions. As such, the study results are inconclusive.”
More than 2.6 million cases have been confirmed worldwide, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. In the U.S., over 800,000 cases have been confirmed. However, a decline in new daily cases has boosted equities from their lows reached on March 23.
U.S. crude futures were up for a third straight day on Friday, rising 0.8% to $16.64 per barrel. However, West Texas Intermediate was well off its session highs. Earlier in the day, WTI rallied more than 5%. Oil was headed for steep weekly losses as demand concerns weigh on oil’s outlook amid the coronavirus pandemic. WTI futures have lost over 31% for the week.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury slid a bit, raising yields to 0.60% from Thursday’s 0.59%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 70 cents to $17.20 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dipped $15.50 to $1,719.90 U.S. an ounce.