Stocks rise on stimulus hopes
President Donald Trump pumped up stocks Thursday by fueling hopes for more fiscal aid. He said some talks were being held with Democrats about providing further aid for airlines though House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she was against a standalone airline bill.
Still, it was enough for investors to shrug off disappointing jobless claims data that signaled the labor market was making little progress in getting people rehired.
National Securities chief market strategist Art Hogan said a major shift is happening on Wall Street, and the markets are warming to the possibility of a Democratic sweep in the November elections - one that could result in a large fiscal stimulus package.
“The market has really shifted to, hey, let’s look at the polling of the presidential election and let’s assume the polling is correct and that’s not always the case, but let’s say the Democrats take both the White House and Senate. That envisions something much different in terms of stimulus.”
The S&P 500 saw a broad rally spearheaded by energy stocks, which were fueled by a jump in oil prices. The broad index finished 8-tenths percent higher. The Dow and Nasdaq gained roughly a half percent.
Shares of IBM shot up. Investors cheered Big Blue’s announcement that it’ll split itself into two public companies so it can focus on its high-margin cloud computing business.
Coty looked more alluring in the eyes of investors. Shares jumped 12% after the cosmetics maker said it’ll launch websites for its Kylie Skin brand in some European countries.
And Morgan Stanley is buying asset management firm Eaton Vance for about $7 billion. That drove Eaton’s shares 48% higher.
