US close: Stocks firmer despite disappointing payrolls data
Wall Street stocks closed higher on Wednesday, despite the release of some much weaker-than-expected payroll data.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.59% at 29,100.50, the S&P 500 added 1.54% to 3,580.84, and the Nasdaq Composite was ahead 0.98% at 12,056.44.
The Dow Jones closed 454.84 points higher, carrying on gains recorded in the previous session.
Sentiment got a boost after Swiss pharma giant Roche revealed that it would be rolling out a new rapid antigen test throughout Europe before the end of the month, with the company also planning to apply for an emergency use authorisation from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
However, news that Donald Trump and FDA head Stephen Hahn's much-touted plasma treatment did not appear to be effective against the coronavirus caused some to taper their expectations.
The US government also said overnight that it would not participate in a global initiative to develop, manufacture and equitably distribute a vaccine for Covid-19 due to the World Health Organization's (WHO) involvement.
The Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access Facility (Covax) is a plan developed by the WHO, along with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, in which 170 countries were in talks to participate.
But despite concerns around the move, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases' director Dr Anthony Fauci said the pandemic could very well be brought to an end sooner than expected if any other multiple companies attempting to achieve a cure were able to produce outstanding preliminary results.
When discussing many of the trials, Fauci said: "The data is so good right now that you can say it's safe and effective."
Also in focus, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin revealed both he and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had restarted talks, leaving market participants optimistic of the potential for another fiscal stimulus plan to help unemployed Americans.
On the macro front, mortgage applications fell 2% in the week ended 28 August, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, marking the third consecutive period of decrease.
Applications to refinance a home loan slipped 3.1% and homebuyer mortgage applications went down 0.2% despite the average fixed 30-year mortgage rate decreasing three basis points to 3.08%.
Elsewhere, hiring in the US increased at a slower-than-expected pace last month, according to consultancy ADP's non-farm private-sector payrolls reports.
ADP's report showed a 428,000 gain in employment, far less than the 900,000 increase that economists had forecast.
Still on the data front, the ISM New York current business conditions index dropped to 42.9 in August from the previous month's 15-month high of 53.5, pointing to a steep deterioration in business conditions throughout the state as the economic recovery following the easing of Covid-19 restrictions dissipated as a result of a resurgence in new cases.
Lastly, factory orders in the US jumped 6.4% month-on-month in July, matching June's upwardly revised increase and slightly ahead of expectations of a 6% rise.
In corporate news, Macy's shares were 0.57% higher after the retailer beat forecasts on the back of a 53% jump in online sales, while Tesla shares reversed earlier gains to close down 5.83%.
Draftkings shares were 8.04% firmer by the close, after adding NBA legend Michael Jordan as an adviser, while Jack Daniels parent Brown-Forman surged 9.95% after beating first-quarter earnings expectations.
Dow Jones - Risers
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $51.19 4.21%
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $128.18 3.87%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $86.93 2.96%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $52.25 2.87%
3M Co. (MMM) $169.51 2.86%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $117.48 2.43%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $320.24 2.37%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $60.53 2.32%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $210.04 2.23%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $149.27 2.20%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $131.40 -2.07%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $39.19 -0.61%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $30.52 0.00%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $147.68 0.06%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $83.19 0.13%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $287.20 0.44%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $37.20 0.87%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $42.42 0.93%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $37.17 1.12%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $135.39 1.38%
S&P 500 - Risers
Dxc Technology Company (DXC) $22.37 11.63%
Brown Forman Corp. Class B (BF.B) $79.89 10.04%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $362.70 6.50%
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $324.43 6.22%
Twitter Inc (TWTR) $43.67 6.12%
Foot Locker Inc. (FL) $32.41 5.43%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $65.08 5.15%
Kansas City Southern (KSU) $193.78 5.14%
Ventas Inc. (VTR) $43.94 4.94%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $364.53 4.80%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Cimarex Energy Co (XEC) $27.13 -6.12%
Diamondback Energy Inc. (FANG) $36.32 -5.61%
Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) $5.12 -3.76%
Apache Corp. (APA) $14.42 -3.48%
Eog Resources Inc. (EOG) $43.70 -3.34%
Concho Resouces Inc. (CXO) $49.90 -2.42%
Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) $10.66 -2.29%
Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. (COG) $18.17 -2.26%
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) $90.22 -2.13%
ConocoPhillips (COP) $36.38 -2.10%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $362.70 6.50%
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $324.43 6.22%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $65.08 5.15%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $364.53 4.80%
Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS) $153.29 4.66%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $47.83 4.52%
Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $375.01 4.30%
Hologic Inc. (HOLX) $61.74 4.26%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $38.86 4.07%
Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOG) $1,728.28 4.07%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $447.37 -5.83%
Workday, Inc. (WDAY) $233.48 -3.42%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $124.26 -2.10%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $131.40 -2.07%
Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $1,198.54 -1.10%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $552.84 -0.67%
CSX Corp. (CSX) $77.68 -0.46%
Trip.com Group Limited (TCOM) $30.60 -0.16%
Shire Plc Ads (SHPG) $179.20 0.00%
Celgene Corp. (CELG) $108.24 0.00%