U.S. stocks, crude gain as Trump’s improving health, stimulus hopes boost higher-risk assets
October 5, 2020President Trump’s call to halt negotiations
October 7, 2020(Reuters) – U.S. stocks were up more than 1% in afternoon trading Monday, recovering from declines in the previous session as investors were optimistic about more fiscal stimulus and mostly favorable updates on President Donald Trump’s coronavirus symptoms.
Indexes added slightly to gains after Trump tweeted in the afternoon that he will be leaving the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center at 6:30 p.m. (2230 GMT). He has been at the hospital since late Friday.
Shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc REGN.O jumped after Trump’s physician said he had been treated with Regeneron’s dual antibody treatment.
Doubts about the scale of further fiscal aid and a slowing economic recovery have weighed on the S&P 500 recently, with the benchmark index in September logging its worst month since the coronavirus-driven crash earlier this year.
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said on Monday there was still potential to reach an agreement with U.S. lawmakers on more coronavirus relief and that Trump was committed to getting the deal done.
“It seems like we’re going to get something. I think both sides need it for political reasons so the chances of getting something is better now than it was,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 369.01 points, or 1.33%, to 28,051.82, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 47.85 points, or 1.43%, to 3,396.29 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 202.35 points, or 1.83%, to 11,277.37.
After data last week showed an unexpected slowdown in the domestic manufacturing sector in September, figures on Monday showed activity in the broader services industry pulled above levels that prevailed before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 2.83-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 2.93-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 25 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 104 new highs and 11 new lows.
Additional reporting by Devik Jain and Sagarika Jaisinghani in Bengaluru; editing by Patrick Graham, Maju Samuel, Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Cynthia Osterman