Stocks rallied to record highs Wednesday after a report indicated a coronavirus vaccine could come sooner than expected.

The S&P 500 rose over 1 percent hitting a record. The Nasdaq maintained its record levels with an advance of 0.4 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added over 483 points or 1.7 percent.

A U.K. researcher said a breakthrough has been made that cut the development time for a vaccine from two years to three years to 14 days, Sky News reported. The coronavirus outbreak has sickened more than 24,300 and killed 490, according to figures released Wednesday by China’s National Health Commission.

Also helping the major averages was the blowout ADP Employment Report, which showed the private sector added 291,000 jobs in January, easily exceeding the 156,000 jobs that economists surveyed by Refinitiv were expecting. This bodes well for the monthly jobs report due Friday.

During State of the Union President Trump touted the 7 million jobs he's created over three years, ahead of even the most optimistic forecasts, he said.

Looking at stocks, Tesla shares had their second-worst day on record, plunging by more than 18 percent, according to Dow Jones Market Data Group. Shares are still up more than 76 percent this year.

Nike announced late Tuesday that the coronavirus outbreak will have a “material impact” on its business in the Greater China region. The sports apparel giant said it has closed about half of its stores in the region and that the others will operate with reduced hours.

Macy's will close 125 stores over the next three years and cut 2,000 corporate jobs as part of a strategy to "stabilize profitability." Read more at FOX Business