Wall Street closes with strong gains as recovery hopes offset pandemic fears

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 377.37 points, or 1.62%, to 23,625.34, the S&P 500 gained 32.5 points, or 1.15%, to 2,852.5 and the Nasdaq Composite added 80.55 points, or 0.91%, to 8,943.72. (File pick NYSE)

NEW YORK: Wall Street surged on Thursday as investors weighed the prospect of economic recovery against bellicose remarks from President Donald Trump regarding U.S.-China trade and a whistleblower's dire warnings about the U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic.

While all three major U.S. stock indexes ended the session solidly higher, they see-sawed for much of the day, with reopening state economies and the possibility of additional stimulus doing battle with revived trade war fears and bleak economic data.