Big Gains on Wall Street on Optimistic COVID Outlook

FILE - A sign for Wall Street is seen in front of the New York Stock Exchange, in New York City, Jan. 31, 2020.

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.