Wednesday's early trade: Wall Street climbs

Wall Street's main indexes surged and the Nasdaq hit its highest level in three months on Wednesday as investors clung to hopes of a recovery from a coronavirus-fueled slump amid signs of more stimulus for ailing sectors.

The tech-heavy index, now about 5% below its all-time high hit in February, was boosted by Facebook Inc and Amazon.com Inc, which were trading at record levels, as well as Apple Inc.

The S&P 500 was about 12% below its all-time peak and the Dow Jones index was short by 17%.

The three indexes have rallied more than 30% from March lows on unprecedented stimulus, but gains have been capped this month as traders digest mixed headlines on progress in developing a coronavirus vaccine.

Moderna Inc's Chief Executive Officer said a best-case scenario would see them filing for an approval for their potential COVID-19 vaccine by end 2020 or early 2021, days after announcing promising data from a very small early-stage trial.

At 11:09 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 381.54 points, or 1.58%, at 24,588.40, the S&P 500 was up 50.62 points, or 1.73%, at 2,973.56. The Nasdaq Composite was up 181.84 points, or 1.98%, at 9,366.95.