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Stocks rose on Thursday as traders weighed the latest comments from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Donald Trump regarding further fiscal aid.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average leaped 122.05 points to close at 28,425.51, a day after the Dow’s biggest one-day gain since mid-July.
The 30-stock index reached its highest level in a month
The S&P 500 gained 27.38 points to 3,446.83.
The NASDAQ took on 56.38 points to 11,420.98.
Shares of airline companies were higher in volatile trading. United and Delta each traded higher by more than 1%. American Airlines advanced 0.6%. The three airline stocks were briefly lower before recovering. IBM shares popped nearly 6% to lead the Dow higher after the company announced its plan to spin off its IT infrastructure unit.
The major averages are higher for October, clawing back some of September’s losses, which was the first negative month since March. Still, a host of risks remain in the market, including rising Covid-19 cases around the world, as well as a slowdown in the rate of the economic recovery.
Pelosi told reporters there will not be a stand-alone stimulus bill for airlines — something President Donald Trump had pushed for the day before — without a bigger aid package.
Trump said Thursday morning that the administration and Democrats were “starting to have some very productive talks.” His comments came after he urged lawmakers to push through coronavirus aid for airlines, sparking a massive market rally on Wednesday.
Investors also digested the latest U.S. weekly jobless claims data, which showed an additional 840,000 Americans filed for unemployment benefits for the first time. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected first-time claims for unemployment insurance to total 825,000 for the week ending Oct. 3.
All of the major averages are higher for October, clawing back some of September’s losses, which was the first negative month since March.
Still, a host of risks remain in the market, including rising Covid-19 cases
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury moved higher, lowering yields to 0.77% from Wednesday’s 0.79%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained $1.33 to $41.28 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices brightened $7.90 to $1,898.30 U.S. an ounce.
