US STOCKS-Wall Street closes higher on hope that partial coronavirus stimulus deal may occur

(For a live blog on the U.S. stock market, click LIVE/ or type
LIVE/ in a news window.)
* Airlines rise after Trump's call for support
* Fed minutes show policymakers split on applying new
framework

(Updates to close)
By Caroline Valetkevitch
Oct 7 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks closed sharply higher on
Wednesday as investors regained optimism that at least a partial
deal on more U.S. fiscal stimulus may happen.
After abruptly calling off negotiations on a comprehensive
bill on Tuesday, President Donald Trump later that day urged
Congress to pass a series of smaller, standalone bills that
would include a bailout package for the airline industry
battered by the coronavirus pandemic. Airline shares jumped.
Indexes held gains after the Federal Reserve released
minutes from its last policy meeting. The minutes showed U.S.
central bankers, having agreed unanimously in August on a broad
new approach to monetary policy, were divided in September over
how to apply their new principles in practice. "The only reason we were down yesterday was the tweet from
President Trump, which he walked back last night. That's why the
market started off stronger and continued stronger. I think
there's full-blown expectations that some form of stimulus
agreement is going to occur sooner than later," said Michael
James, managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities
in Los Angeles.
Top White House officials downplayed the possibility of more
coronavirus relief, while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi disparaged
Trump for backing away from talks on a comprehensive deal.
Unofficially, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose
529.45 points, or 1.91%, to 28,302.21, the S&P 500 .SPX gained
58.38 points, or 1.74%, to 3,419.33 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC added 210.00 points, or 1.88%, to 11,364.60.
Eli Lilly and Co LLY.N rose after saying it had submitted
a request to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for emergency
use of its experimental COVID-19 antibody treatment.

With the presidential election just weeks away, focus later
Wednesday may turn to a debate between Vice President Mike Pence
and Democratic opponent Kamala Harris.
Reuters/Ipsos opinion polls released on Tuesday showed
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden expanding his lead
over Trump in battleground Michigan and the two candidates
locked in a toss-up race in North Carolina ahead of the Nov. 3
election. Investors also are preparing to hear soon from companies on
the third quarter. Analysts expect earnings at S&P 500 companies
to have dropped about 21% in the quarter from a year ago,
according to IBES data from Refinitiv.