US stocks climb amid optimism around further economic stimulus
- US stocks climbed on Thursday on optimism about Congress passing more fiscal stimulus measures.
- The White House has called for a $1.6 trillion stimulus package that would include another round of direct payments to Americans.
- Initial weekly jobless claims fell to 837,000, which was lower than expected and suggested that the economic recovery is trudging along.
- Watch major indexes update live here.
US stocks climbed on Thursday on increased optimism that Congress could pass an additional round of fiscal stimulus before the November presidential election.
The White House has called for a bill up to $1.6 trillion that would include another round of direct payments to Americans. The amount is lower than House Democrats' proposed $2.2 trillion bill, unveiled on Monday. Talks between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin are set to continue on Thursday.
Also helping the markets on Thursday was a Labor Department report that said initial weekly jobless claims fell to 837,000 last week, better than the consensus estimate of 850,000 and lower than the previous week's reading of 873,000.
Here's where US indexes stood at 9:55 a.m. ET on Thursday:
- S&P 500: 3,379.68, up 0.5%
- Dow Jones industrial average: 27,889.60, up 0.4% (108 points)
- Nasdaq composite: 11,270.25, up 0.9%
The SPAC craze continued, with Playboy set to go public on Thursday via a merger with Mountain Crest valued at $381 million.
Elsewhere, the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday that it would extend limits on banks' ability to buy back stock and issue dividends until the end of 2020.
Gold rose as much as 1.3%, to $1,909.33 per ounce.
Oil prices were mixed. West Texas Intermediate crude fell as much as 3.2%, to $38.92 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, rose 3.9%, to $42.56 per barrel, at intraday highs.