(Corrects 20-day average volume to 11.49 billion from 1.49
billion in paragraph 14)
* Mnuchin says COVID-19 relief talks making progress
* Airbnb shares more than double after $68 pricing
* U.S. FDA advisory panel meets on Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine
* Dow down 0.23%, S&P 500 down 0.13%, Nasdaq up 0.54%
By Chuck Mikolajczak
NEW YORK, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Major averages closed on
Thursday with a rebound from early lows as investors looked for
signs of progress in fiscal stimulus talks to support the
economy after labor market data showed a jump in jobless claims.
Stocks on Wall Street opened lower on the heels of weekly
initial jobless claims data that spiked by 137,000 to a
seasonally adjusted 853,000, well above expectations for 725,000
and the highest level since mid-September, underscoring the need
for fresh stimulus measures to support a flagging economy.
But equities moved well off lows that saw the S&P 500 down
as much as 0.75% after U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin
said talks between Republican and Democratic senators on
COVID-19 relief were making "a lot of progress" with more
discussions expected in the day. "The competing narrative of the virus is here, it is worse,
the natural pullback of the economy because of that and the lack
of uncertainty around the timeline and magnitude of the package
is going to be a daily struggle with pretty volatile moments in
the interim," said Keith Buchanan, senior portfolio manager at
Globalt Investments in Atlanta.
"If this is the start of a trend, we will test the capacity
of the market to remain optimistic by looking past a really
tough environment that is on the ground right now."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 69.55 points,
or 0.23%, to 29,999.26, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 4.72 points, or
0.13%, to 3,668.1 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 66.86
points, or 0.54%, to 12,405.81.
Airbnb Inc 's ABNB.O shares opened at $146 in their debut,
far above the initial public offering (IPO) price of $68 apiece,
raising $3.5 billion for the home rental firm, with shares
closing at $144.71. The offering comes on the heels of a blowout
debut for Wednesday's high profile IPO DoorDash DASH.N .
The S&P energy index .SPNY closed at a six-month high as
Brent crude prices surged above $50 a barrel for the first time
since early March. The group has surged 36.2% this quarter, the
best performing of the 11 major S&P sectors, as investors have
looked to names that could benefit from an economic reopening.
The faltering labor market recovery and the recent surge in
COVID-19 infections have piled pressure on policymakers to come
up with another rescue package, as most of the government
financial aid for Americans and businesses has dried up.
A U.S. Senate vote on a stopgap measure to keep the
government running could slip to the Friday deadline, said the
Senate's number two Republican, John Thune. The measure would
give lawmakers time to work out a larger spending package and
coronavirus relief, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi raised the
possibility talks could drag on through Christmas. in focus was a meeting of outside advisers to the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) later in the day, to decide
whether to recommend that the agency authorize Pfizer Inc's
PFE.N COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use. Some officials said vaccinations could begin as soon as this
weekend if the FDA consented.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was 10.31 billion shares, compared
with the 11.49 billion average for the full session over the
last 20 trading days.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
1.27-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.66-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 10 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 145 new highs and 11 new lows.
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