NEW YORK (AFP) - Wall Street stocks rose for a second straight session on Thursday (Oct 8) amid conflicting signs on the prospects for more US stimulus, as data showed joblessness staying stubbornly high.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 0.4 per cent to 28,425.51.
The broad-based S&P 500 climbed 0.8 per cent to 3,446.83, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.5 per cent to 11,420.98.
After stocks rallied on Wednesday following President Donald Trump's about face on stimulus talks, equities gained again as Trump on Thursday put the odds of a deal as "really good."
But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi brushed aside narrowly-tailored legislation to support airlines, saying such measures were dead unless included in a broader Bill, a prospect Republicans oppose.
The back-and-forth came as Labour Department data showed the level of new jobless benefit applications in the United States barely changed last week.
There were 840,000 new claims filed in the week ended Oct 3, a drop of 9,000 from the previous week's level, but around four times the level a year ago, according to the data.
Thursday's gains reflect the market's confidence that, at the end of the day, there will be stimulus, said TD Ameritrade's JJ Kinahan.
"The hope is that throughout the weekend or early next week, we can get something done," he said.
But Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare said the market is finding other reasons to push higher and doesn't see a stimulus as likely even if Pelosi strikes a deal with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, given opposition in the Republican-controlled Senate.
O'Hare said the market has become more confident the US election will not be contested following recent polls showing challenger Joe Biden with a widening lead.
Investors have also taken heart from Trump's improving health, believing his apparent recovery from Covid-19 after taking experimental drugs gives hopes that such therapeutics could be effective.
"The market is getting around the idea that (coronavirus) is treatable," he said. "The market is not living on the notion that it needs to get this stimulus now."
Among individual companies, Eaton Vance shot up 48.1 per cent after it agreed to be acquired by Morgan Stanley for about US$7 billion (S$9.5 billion) in the Wall Street giant's second big deal of 2020 after a US$13 billion purchase of E-Trade. Morgan Stanley added 0.6 per cent.
IBM led the Dow, jumping 6 per cent as it announced it would spin out its managed infrastructure business into a new public company, further positioning IBM in cloud computing and artificial intelligence under new chief executive Arvind Krishna.
But fellow Dow member Amgen plunged 6.8 per cent after releasing disappointing clinical results of an experimental heart drug.
