The major averages surged today following a report from a Chicago hospital saying coronavirus patients treated with Gilead's experimental drug, remdesivir recovered rapidly from severe symptoms. Gilead's stock finished up 9%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 704 points, or 3%, to 24,242. It was the Dow's first close above 24,000 since March 10. The S&P 500 closed 2.7% higher, at 2,874 while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.4% to 8,650.14. Boeing shares jumped 14.7% after the airplane maker said it would resume production in the Seattle area as early as April 20. The company also said Friday it would resume operations in the Philadelphia area.

Friday's gain led the S&P 500 to its first back-to-back weekly gains since early February and propelled it above its 50-day moving average. The broader market index climbed 3% for the week while the Dow gained 2.2%. The Nasdaq advanced 6.1% week to date. Through Friday's close, the major averages were all up more than 25% from their late-March lows. The S&P 500 has jumped more than 30% from its March 23 intraday low while the Dow has gained 33.1% in that time. 

The information technology sector rose 1.4% underperformed today amid relative weakness in Apple down 1.4% which was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs on a view that iPhone sales will take more time to recover than expected.

Boeing jumped 14.7% after the company said it plans to restart production at its Puget Sound facility next week. Procter & Gamble advanced 2.6% with the broader market after it beat earnings estimates. P&G, Johnson and Johnson and Costco all raised their dividends in the last week.

US. Treasuries were holding steady despite the stock market gains amid a weak Q1 GDP print out of China and continued weakness in oil prices ($18.20/bbl, -1.67, -8.4%). Longer-dated maturities saw modest selling, though, after the New York Fed stated it will reduce its Treasury purchases next week to ~$75 billion from ~$150 billion this week.

The 2-yr yield increased one basis point to 0.20%, and the 10-yr yield increased four basis points to 0.65%. The U.S. Dollar Index declined 0.2% to 99.78.