Hope takes the reins on Wall Street, stocks rally worldwide

STAN CHOE, DAMIAN J. TROISE and ALEX VEIGA

AP Business Writers

NEW YORK (AP) — In Wall Street's tug of war between hope and pessimism about the coronavirus pandemic, hope is fighting back.

U.S. stocks joined a worldwide rally Friday and closed out their first back-to-back weekly gain since the market began selling off two months ago. The S&P 500 jumped 2.7% for the day, following up on even bigger gains in Europe and Asia.

Investors latched onto several strands of hope about progress in the fight against the coronavirus. They included the White House's release of guidelines for states to reope...