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Stocks rose on Thursday as traders weighed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s latest remarks on the U.S. fiscal stimulus negotiations.
The Dow Jones Industrials recovered from a 170-point loss to leap into positive country 148.57 points to end the session at 28,359.39.
The S&P 500 climbed 17.93 points to 3,453.49.
The NASDAQ jumped 21.31 points to 11,506.01.
JPMorgan Chase grew 3.5% and Morgan Stanley popped 2.8%. Citigroup advanced 2.2%.
Companies continued to file third-quarter earnings reports on Wednesday, with electric car maker Tesla and Coca-Cola releasing their latest quarterly numbers.
Elon Musk’s Tesla reported its fifth straight quarter of profits, posting per-share earnings of 76 cents versus the consensus estimate of 57 cents expected by analysts. The company had already reported that it delivered 139,300 vehicles during the quarter, a new record for Tesla.
CEO Musk noted on the company’s earnings call that Tesla plans to start delivering cars from new factories in Brandenburg, Germany and Austin, Texas in 2021 but that output could be slow at first. The stock was up 0.8%.
Coca-Cola rose more than 1% after the company reported a stronger-than-forecast profit for the previous quarter. CSX and AT&T also traded higher on the back of better-than-expected earnings.
Traders also looked ahead to the second, and final, presidential debate between Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, which is slated to start at 9 p.m. ET.
The U.S. election is set to take place on Nov. 3. Recent polls show Biden ahead of Trump and are also pointing toward a potential "Blue Wave" in which the Democrats would win the presidency, obtain a Senate majority and keep control of the House.
Some investors have been warming up to the idea of a Democratic sweep, noting it could make it easier to push through more fiscal stimulus in the future.
Futures came under some pressure overnight after U.S. officials said Iran is taking steps to interfere in the U.S. presidential election, and Russia has obtained American voter information.
Pelosi said Thursday a deal on new coronavirus aid was "just about there." She also said: "If we were not making progress, I wouldn’t spend five seconds in these conversations. … This is not anything other than I think a serious attempt. I do believe that both sides want to reach an agreement."
To be sure, Pelosi noted that both sides have yet to reach an agreement on certain key issues, including state and local funding. She also cautioned it could take “a while” for lawmakers to actually write and vote on any aid bill.
On the data front, the U.S. Labor Department said weekly jobless claims fell to 787,000 for the week ending Oct. 17. That marks the first time since March that claims come in below 800,000. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected first-time applicants for state unemployment insurance to have totaled 875,000.
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury slumbered, lifting yields to 0.87% from Wednesday’s 0.82%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices moved ahead 65 cents at $40.68 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices declined $22.50 to $1,907.
