Stocks rose during Wednesday's session as market participants digested a series of tweets written by President Donald Trump on Tuesday, with the president ultimately calling for Congress to pass more direct payments and economic stimulus for the airline sector. However, Trump has rejected the new modified HEROES Act bill that was recently passed by the House of Representatives, arguing that the price tag was too high.
The Federal Reserve released the Federal Open Market Committee minutes from its Sept. 15-16 meeting on Wednesday, with committee members demonstrating concern for the ongoing strength of the U.S. economic recovery. FOMC participants called for more stimulus for the economy to recover smoothly, with the meeting's minutes reading: "Indeed, many participants noted that their economic outlook assumed additional fiscal support and that if future fiscal support was significantly smaller or arrived significantly later than they expected, the pace of the recovery could be slower than anticipated."
Here's how the market settled for the mid-week:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): +1.74% or +58.50 points to 3,419.45
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): +1.91% or +530.70 points to 28,303.46
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): +1.88% or +210.00 points to 11,364.60
For Major Stock News, reopening names like airlines and cruises--American (NASDAQ: AAL), Carnival (NYSE: CCL), Delta (NYSE: DAL), Norwegian (NYSE: NCLH), Royal Caribbean (NYSE: RCL), Southwest (NYSE: LUV) and United (NASDAQ: UAL)--rallied as fresh economic stimulus still seems possible in the near-term. Mega-cap tech shares--Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) and Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL)--recovered from the House Judiciary's Antitrust Subcommittee's report that recommended laws be made to break-up parts of the companies' businesses. Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) shares rose after the drugmaker announced that it was seeking an emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for one of its COVID-19 antibody treatments.
For Sector Performance, every industry gained alongside the broader market during Wednesday's session. The positive performance gains were as follows: Materials +2.62%, Consumer Discretionary +2.47%, Industrials +2.22%, Information Technology +1.89%, Health Care +1.89%, Financials +1.74%, Energy +1.41%, Consumer Staples +1.19%, Communication Services +0.88%, Utilities +0.63% and Real Estate +0.28%.
For Commodities and Currency, the U.S. Dollar (NYSE: UUP) slipped against other global currencies on Wednesday as investors weighed a possible Democrat victory for the Nov.3 presidential election against Trump announcing that he is ready to sign for more economic stimulus measures. The dollar index fell 0.19%. Gold (NYSE: GLD) conversely rose, but settled mixed and below the key $1,900 level, as stimulus hopes were dampened by Trump's tweets on Tuesday. Spot gold increased 0.4% to $1,884.46 per ounce, while gold futures settled 1.3% lower at $1,884.60 per ounce. Crude oil futures fell on Wednesday on cloudy stimulus outlook and oversupply fears. International benchmark Brent Crude (NYSE: BNO) fell 2.7% to $41.51 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (NYSE: USO) declined 1.8% to $39.95 per barrel.
For Thursday, investors will digest the vice presidential debate between Vice President Mike Pence and challenger Senator Kamala Harris. The Labor Department is also slated to issue fresh data on unemployment claims.