It was a good day Tuesday on Wall Street, with big gains for all three major indexes on optimistic coronavirus news.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 559 points and closed up at 2%. The S&P 500 was 3% higher, and the NASDAQ rose a hefty 4%.
European markets were mixed. London was off a fraction, while Frankfurt and Paris were both 1% higher.
Asia also had a good day Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei index was up 3%, and South Korea, Australia and Shanghai were all 2% higher. Hong Kong was up a fraction.
Tuesday's gains in New York were led by Amazon, whose stock price hit an all-time high. The online retail giant is thriving during the pandemic, while brick-and-mortar stores have been forced to close.
Investors were also encouraged by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's comment that the number of deaths in the COVID-19 hot spot is leveling off.
Tuesday was also the start of quarterly corporate earnings reports.
Financial giant JP Morgan Chase announced a large drop in profits for the first three months of the year. Quarterly earnings for another financial powerhouse, Wells Fargo, were also lower than expected.
But Johnson & Johnson, which is working on a coronavirus vaccine, reported a 5% gain in its quarterly earnings.
