Stocks Heading Up

NEW YORK (AP) – Stocks are rising more than 4% Thursday, putting the market on track for its first three-day rally in six weeks, even as the astonishing scale of the downturn slamming the economy because of the coronavirus becomes more apparent. Nearly 3.3 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, shattering the prior record set in 1982. The outbreak has happened so suddenly that the report is one of the first to show how much economic pain it’s creating. The S&P 500 has rallied 16% since Monday on expectations Congress would pass an unprecedented rescue package for the economy. The bill cleared the Senate late Wednesday.