US close: Stocks finish mixed on renewed stimulus hopes
Stocks on Wall Street finished in the green on the last trading day of the third quarter on Wednesday, on optimism that there would be bipartisan support for another fiscal stimulus bill before the 3 November elections.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the session up 1.2% at 27,781.70, the S&P 500 added 0.83% to 3,363.00, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.74% firmer at 11,167.51.
In remarks to broadcaster CNBC, Steve Mnuchin said he expected to be able to reach an agreement with Democrats.
Together with a raft of better-than-expected readings on the economy, his remarks light a fire under share prices.
Investors appeared to throw off their hesitancy following an inconclusive or "unedifying" - in the words of Market.com's Neil Wilson - televised debate between White House hopefuls Donald Trump and Joe Biden overnight.
"We await to see whether the spectacle has had any impact on the up to one in ten voters yet to make up their minds,” Wilson said.
“As grandpa Wilson would have said, I hae ma doots.”
Several commentators appeared to echo Wilson's remarks, although on Wednesday morning the national average of voters' polls appeared to have drifted ever so slightly in Trump's favour.
Nevertheless, Real Clear Politics' national average of polls was still showing Biden 6.1 points out ahead of Trump in voters' intentions.
The economic data on Wednesday were unequivocally positive, at least superficially.
In particular, consultancy ADP's payrolls survey showed that private sector firms hired 749,000 people in September.
That was more than the 428,000 gain reported for August and ahead of economists' median forecast for an increase of 650,000.
Similarly, readings for factory sector activity around Chicago for the same month and on pending home sales in August both came in well ahead of market projections.
On the corporate side of things meanwhile, early trial results for Regeneron's monoclonal antibody cocktail showed that it helped to alleviate symptoms in patients with mild-to-moderate cases of Covid-19 more quickly, yet the stock was down by 1.15%.
Dow Jones - Risers
American Express Co. (AXP) $100.25 2.56%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $311.77 2.51%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $200.97 2.12%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $277.71 2.06%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $139.91 2.02%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $35.92 1.53%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $115.81 1.51%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $210.33 1.48%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $36.70 1.47%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $82.95 1.28%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $124.08 -1.05%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $125.54 -0.64%
Raytheon Technologies Corporation (RTX) $57.54 -0.10%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $30.52 0.00%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $72.00 0.14%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $34.33 0.15%
3M Co. (MMM) $160.18 0.23%
Visa Inc. (V) $199.97 0.27%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $219.49 0.37%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $59.49 0.42%
S&P 500 - Risers
Duke Energy Corp. (DUK) $88.56 7.46%
L Brands Inc (LB) $31.81 4.78%
Centene Corp. (CNC) $58.33 4.42%
Universal Health Services Inc. (UHS) $107.02 4.38%
Harley-Davidson Inc. (HOG) $24.54 3.94%
Discover Financial Services (DFS) $57.78 3.85%
NRG Energy Inc. (NRG) $30.74 3.50%
Abbott Laboratories (ABT) $108.83 3.46%
Lennar Corp. Class A (LEN) $81.68 3.43%
Anthem Inc (ANTM) $268.22 3.39%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $46.96 -7.39%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $36.55 -7.04%
Fluor Corp. (FLR) $8.81 -4.55%
Diamondback Energy Inc. (FANG) $30.12 -3.46%
L3Harris Technologies Inc. (LHX) $169.84 -3.36%
Williams Companies Inc. (WMB) $19.65 -3.01%
Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC) $315.49 -3.01%
Arconic Inc. (ARNC) $19.05 -3.00%
Transdigm Group Inc. (TDG) $475.12 -2.85%
ONEOK Inc. (OKE) $25.98 -2.59%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $126.59 3.27%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $77.61 3.26%
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $89.74 2.64%
Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) $93.32 2.52%
Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG) $709.54 2.40%
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $429.01 2.37%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $254.16 2.36%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $541.22 2.30%
DENTSPLY Sirona Inc. (XRAY) $43.73 2.29%
Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG) $1,710.68 2.25%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $46.96 -7.39%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $36.55 -7.04%
Workday, Inc. (WDAY) $215.13 -2.56%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $559.78 -2.41%
Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $29.03 -2.09%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $21.01 -1.78%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $331.75 -1.76%
J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. (JBHT) $126.38 -1.75%
Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $20.53 -1.75%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $49.27 -1.60%