U.S. Stocks Jump on Biden's Super Tuesday Showing

Wall Street jumped early Wednesday after Joe Biden's strong performance in the Democratic Super Tuesday primaries boosted his chances against leftist Bernie Sanders.

About 25 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 26,357.31, up 1.7 percent.

The broad-based S&P 500 gained 1.3 percent to 3,041.14, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 1.0 percent to 8,771.87.

Analysts have cited Sanders's political rise as a secondary factor in the market's stumbles of recent weeks, which has been primarily blamed on the coronavirus outbreak.

After suffering bruising losses last week, stocks surged Monday on a rebound, but tumbled on Tuesday amid skepticism that emergency Federal Reserve interest rate cuts due to coronavirus would boost economic growth.

A self-described "democratic socialist," Sanders favors hefty taxes on wealth and a radical remake of the US healthcare system, policies that have rattled Wall Street.

On Tuesday, former Vice President Biden re-established himself as a frontrunner, winning at least nine and possibly 10 of the nomination contests held across 14 states.

"The issue today isn't whether Mr. Biden could ultimately beat President Trump (who is considered to be more market friendly)," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.

"The issue... is that the market sees a less worrisome option unfolding on the Democratic side, which, for now anyway, qualifies as a catalyst for a little political relief rally."

The focus on politics shifted some of the attention in stocks from the coronavirus.

On Wednesday, IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said global growth this year would slow below 2.9 percent last year, characterizing the virus as a "serious threat" to people and the world economy.

Among US economic releases, payrolls firm ADP estimated the United States added 183,000 jobs in February, above expectations. The figures come ahead of Friday's closely-watched government jobs report.