Yahoo Finance Stocks fall after coronavirus trial of Gilead's remdesivir flops
Stocks around the world fell on Friday as hopes for an effective treatment for COVID-19 were dashed.
Stock markets in Asia closed lower and European stock markets opened over 1% lower on Friday, after reports that a closely watched trial of a possible COVID-19 drug performed poorly in randomised trials.
The Financial Times reported late on Thursday that a clinical trial of antiviral remdesivir failed to show any meaningful results in treating the novel coronavirus, citing World Health Organisation (WHO) documents.
Gilead confirmed it had abandoned the trial in China but insisted the results had been “inconclusive.”
The drug’s efficacy had been closely watched by scientists and investors around the world. California-based Gilead Sciences (GILD), which makes the drug, tumbled 4.3% on the news.
Remdesivir’s flop comes days after a separate study found that hydroxychloroquine did more harm than good in the treatment of COVID-19. Both drugs had been touted by US President Donald Trump as potential treatments for the deadly new coronavirus.
Jim Reid, a macro strategist at Deutsche Bank, said the disappointing news about the remdesivir trials meant “the shine was taken off” stocks.
Reid said investors were also left disappointed after a digital summit of European leaders failed to yield any agreement on a eurozone-wide stimulus package to help economies hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Major indexes across Europe opened lower on Friday, although losses had moderated by mid-aftenroon.
The DAX (^GDAXI) in Germany was down 0.6% by 2.55pm UK time, while the CAC 40 (^FCHI) in France was down 0.4% by.
In the UK, the FTSE 100 (^FTSE) slipped 0.7%. Stats released on Friday morning pointed to the sharpest fall in retail sales on record as a result of the COVID-19 lockdown.
European markets were spurred higher by a turnaround for US stocks. Futures initially pointed to a lower open in New York but the S&P 500 and Dow Jones both opened higher.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) and the the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) were both up 0.1% after almost half an hour of trade. The Nasdaq (^IXIC) was 0.2% lower.
Overnight in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei (^N225) closed down 0.8%, the Hong Kong Hang Seng (^HSI) ended trade down 0.3%, and the Shanghai Composite (000001.SS) in China traded down 1%.
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