US stocks posted tentative gains early Friday as Wall Street tried to end a rocky week on a high note amid continued uncertainty about the coronavirus crisis.
The Dow Jones industrial average climbed as much as 202.63 points, or 0.8 percent, before falling in and out of the red. The blue-chip index was up just 4.03 points, or 0.02 percent, at 23,519.29 as of 1:14 p.m.
The S&P 500 also oscillated between gains and losses, jumping as much as 0.7 percent before recently paring the jump to roughly 0.3 percent. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite tumbled as much as 0.3 percent in early trading but had climbed 0.4 percent as of 1:15 p.m.
The muted movements showed a “lack of conviction” going into the weekend as investors waited for more cues about the pandemic that has rattled the global economy, said Michael Cuggino, president and portfolio manager at the Permanent Portfolio Family of Funds.
“We are in a period of waiting — when are we gonna bend the curve? When are cases gonna go down? When can we all go back to work?” Cuggino told The Post.
The choppy start came amid Georgia’s controversial decision to loosen restrictions on businesses aimed at curbing the deadly coronavirus outbreak, with other Southern states set to follow next week. Separately, the House of Representatives passed a $484 billion stimulus bill Thursday to blunt the economic impact of the pandemic.
All three major indexes gave up gains to close roughly flat Thursday after reports that Gilead Sciences’ antiviral drug remdesivir had flopped in a clinical trial with coronavirus patients in China. News that the drug was showing promise in another study had lifted stocks just a week ago as investors anxiously awaited a COVID-19 treatment.
The Dow ended Thursday roughly 29 percent above the intraday low it reached about a month ago. But the market’s reaction to the Gilead story exposed the weakness of the recent rally driven by hopes of the virus crisis peaking, according to Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at the Leuthold Group.
“I think that makes people a little squeamish here about the question of what’s gonna push this market higher,” Paulsen told The Post.
The Wall Street indexes ended Thursday on pace to post losses for the week after a historic drop in oil prices caused stocks to plunge Monday and Tuesday. A key oil futures price fell below zero for the first time ever Monday as the coronavirus killed demand for fuel amid a glut of supply.
