US markets settle higher as Nancy Pelosi indicates progress on stimulus deal

23 Oct 2020 Evaluate

The US markets ended higher on Thursday as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi indicated Democrats and the White House continue to make progress toward an agreement on a new stimulus bill. Pelosi said the two sides are just about there on certain provisions but noted they have not agreed on issues such as state and local aid. While Pelosi acknowledged it will take a while to write the bill, she said she believes both sides want to reach an agreement. The latest comments from Pelosi came after her deputy chief of staff Drew Hammill revealed the Speaker spoke with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin again on Wednesday, saying the conversation brought the two sides closer to being able to put pen to paper to write legislation. Hammill said with the exchange of legislative language, we are better prepared to reach compromise on several priorities.

Besides, Upbeat US economic data added to the positive, with a report from the Labor Department showing initial jobless claims came in well below street estimate in the week ended October 17th. The Labor Department said initial jobless claims fell to 787,000, a decrease of 55,000 from the previous week's revised level of 842,000. Street had expected jobless claims to drop to 860,000 from the 898,000 originally reported for the previous week. A separate report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) showed existing home sales spiked by much more than anticipated in the month of September. NAR said existing home sales soared by 9.4 percent to an annual rate of 6.54 million in September after jumping by 2 percent to a revised rate of 5.98 million in August. Street had expected existing home sales to surge up by 5.0 percent to a rate of 6.30 million from the 6.00 million originally reported for the previous month.

Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 152.84 points or 0.54 percent to 28,363.66, Nasdaq rose 21.31 points or 0.19 percent to 11,506.01 and S&P 500 was up by 17.93 points or 0.52 percent 3,453.49.

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