Tag: Sharply

U.S. Stocks Close Sharply Higher, Tech Stocks Help Lead The Way

(RTTNews) – Stocks moved sharply higher during trading on Monday, extending the strong upward move seen over the past few sessions. The continued advance once again lifted the major averages to their best closing levels in over a month.

The major averages gave back some ground in the latter part of the trading day but remained firmly positive. The Dow advanced 250.62 points or 0.9 percent to 28,837.52, the Nasdaq spiked 296.32 points or 2.6 percent to 11,876.26 and the S&P 500 jumped 57.09 points or 1.6 percent to 3,534.22.

Technology stocks helped to lead the markets higher, as reflected by the significant advance by the tech-heavy Nasdaq.

Apple (AAPL) posted a standout gain, surging up by 6.4 percent, while Facebook (FB) and Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) also moved notably higher.

Shares of Twitter (TWTR) also showed a strong move to the upside after Deutsche Bank upgraded its rating on the social media giant to Buy from Hold.

The markets also continued to benefit from optimism about a new stimulus bill even though House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said talks will “remain at an impasse” until “serious issues” with the Trump administration’s latest proposal are resolved.

The White House has increased its offer to $1.8 billion in its latest proposal, but Pelosi still called the administration’s proposed bill “grossly inadequate.”

“The news is filled with the numbers in terms of dollars. The heart of the matter is: can we allow the virus to rage on and ignore science as the Administration proposes, or will they accept the scientific strategic plan in the Heroes Act to crush the virus,” Pelosi said in a letter to her Democratic colleagues.

“We have other differences in terms of who benefits from the spending,” she added. “But in terms of addressing testing, tracing and treatment, what

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U.S. Stocks Close Sharply Higher As Trump Prepares To Leave Hospital

(RTTNews) – Stocks moved sharply higher during trading on Monday, more than offsetting the weakness seen in the previous session. With the upward move on the day, the major averages reached their best closing levels in a month.

The major averages ended the day near their highs of the session. The Dow jumped 465.83 points or 1.7 percent to 28,148.64, the Nasdaq spiked 257.47 points or 2.3 percent to 11,332.49 and the S&P 500 surged up 60.16 points or 1.8 percent to 3,408.60.

The rally on Wall Street came amid positive reports about President Donald Trump’s health after he was rushed to Walter Reed hospital on Friday.

In a video posted on Twitter late Sunday, Trump said he is “getting great reports from the doctors” regarding his battle with the coronavirus.

Trump revealed in a tweet late in the trading day that he will be releases from the hospital at 6:30 pm ET.

“Feeling really good! Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life. We have developed, under the Trump Administration, some really great drugs & knowledge. I feel better than I did 20 years ago!” Trump tweeted.

Buying interest was also generated following the release of a report from the Institute for Supply Management showing activity in the U.S. service sector unexpectedly grew at a faster rate in the month of September’

The ISM said its services PMI rose inched up 57.8 in September from 56.9 in August, with a reading above 50 indicating growth in the service sector. Economists had expected the index to edge down to 56.3.

Sector News

Biotechnology stocks showed a substantial move to the upside on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index up by 3.8 percent.

Shares of MyoKardia (MYOK) moved sharply higher after the biotechnology company agreed to

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Wall Street closes sharply lower as Trump tests positive for coronavirus

By Stephen Culp

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks closed lower on Friday as news that U.S. President Donald Trump tested positive for COVID-19 put investors in a risk-off mood and added to mounting uncertainties surrounding the looming election.

Tech shares weighed heaviest on the indexes, but the blue-chip Dow’s losses were mitigated by gains in economically sensitive cyclical stocks.

Despite Friday’s sell-off, the S&P and the Nasdaq both gained 1.5% on the week, while the Dow ended the session 1.9% higher than last Friday’s close.

Trump tweeted late Thursday that he had contracted the coronavirus and would be placed under quarantine, compounding the unknowns for an already volatile market.

But stocks pared losses after the White House provided assurances that Trump, while experiencing mild symptoms, is not incapacitated.

“This injects further uncertainty into the outcome of the election,” said Roberto Perli, head of global policy research at Cornerstone Macro in Washington. “My read is that markets have demonstrated an aversion of late especially to uncertainty, not so much to one or the other candidate winning.” 

Equities also got a brief boost after U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s announcement that an agreement to provide another $25 billion in government assistance to the airline industry was “imminent.”

“Markets are also paying attention to the likelihood that another stimulus package will pass soon,” Perli added. “If that happens it could offset at least in part the uncertainty generated by the COVID news.”

House Democrats passed a $2.2 trillion fiscal aid package on Thursday, but the bill is unlikely to be approved in the Republican-controlled Senate.

Partisan wrangling over the size and details of a new round of stimulus have stalled, over two months after emergency unemployment benefits expired for millions of Americans.

Data released on Friday showed the recovery of

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U.S. Employers Add Sharply Fewer Jobs in September

U.S. employers added a much fewer-than-expected 661,000 new jobs last month, data from the Labor Department confirmed Friday, as hiring slowed sharply from August amid new layoffs and a broader economic slowdown linked to the coronavirus pandemic.

The 661,000 net new job total compares to an upwardly-revised August tally of 1.489 million but still takes the headline unemployment rate to 7.9%. Average hourly wages, the Bureau of Labor statistics said, rose 0.1% from August to $29.47, taking the year-on-year to to 4.7%. The labor force participation rate, a reading of long-term unemployment, fell to 61.4% from 61.7%, the BLS said, and the overall economy is down 10.7 million jobs from its February peak.

Market expectations were also boosted by a stronger-than-forecast reading of weekly jobs claims on Thursday, which showed that 837,000 Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, down from 873,000 in the prior period and just shy of the Street’s 850,000 forecast.

“For the most part, the economy has been continuing to heal and the employment numbers have been positive, but this month the large drop in the Labor Force Participation Rate is concerning,” said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for the Independent Advisor Alliance.

“We have been stressing to clients that an additional round of stimulus will be necessary for the economy and markets to regain and maintain their footing as the damage done by the lockdowns was extensive and more fiscal assistance is necessary to bridge the gap from the strong economy of 2019 to a robust economy in 2021,” he added.

Government workers were down 216,000 compared to August, the BLS said, and could partly explain the difference between this non-farm payroll report and ADP’s private sector reading earlier this week, which showed new payroll additions rising by 749,000. The BLS report said private sector

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U.S. Stocks Close Sharply Higher After Rally In Europe

(RTTNews) – Stocks moved sharply higher during trading on Monday, extending the strong upward move seen in the previous session. The major averages all climbed firmly into positive territory amid broad based strength on Wall Street.

The Dow jumped 410.10 points or 1.5 percent to 27,584.06, the Nasdaq spiked 203.96 points or 1.9 percent to 11,117.53 and the S&P 500 surged up 53.14 points or 1.6 percent to 3,351.60.

The strength on Wall Street came following a rally seen in the European markets, as traders picked up stocks at relatively reduced levels.

Traders seem to shrug off recent concerns about a surge in coronavirus cases and uncertainty about the U.S. presidential election.

The markets may also have benefitted from optimism about a new coronavirus bill after House Speaker Nancy Pelolsi said a new package is still possible. House Democrats plan to unveil a new $2.4 trillion coronavirus relief bill.

The price tag for the bill is $1 trillion less than a stimulus package the House passed back in May but may still be too high for Republicans.

Housing stocks showed a substantial move to the upside on the day, driving the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index up by 3.7 percent.

Significant strength was also visible among oil service stocks, as reflected by the 3 percent jump by the Philadelphia Oil Service Index.

The rally by oil service stocks came amid an increase by the price of crude oil, with crude for November delivery rising $0.35 to $40.60 a barrel.

Financial, semiconductor and networking stocks also saw considerable strength, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Monday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index jumped by 1.3 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index edged down

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