US STOCKS-Wall St hits one-month high as Trump signals stimulus progress

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* Trump says talks ongoing for fiscal stimulus
* Pelosi rejects airline aid without larger stimulus bill
* Weekly jobless claims inch lower but remain elevated
* IBM jumps on infrastructure services unit's spin-off plan
* Indexes up: Dow 0.40%, S&P 0.68%, Nasdaq 0.60%

(Adds comment; updates share prices)
By Sagarika Jaisinghani and Devik Jain
Oct 8 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes rose to a
one-month high on Thursday as U.S. President Donald Trump
signaled progress in negotiations around new fiscal stimulus,
while data showed a recovery in the labor market struggled to
gain momentum.
Two days after calling off talks on a comprehensive fiscal
aid bill, Trump said some discussions were ongoing with
Democrats about boosting support for U.S. airlines and providing
Americans with $1,200 stimulus checks. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said there would be no
additional federal aid for U.S. airlines without a more
comprehensive COVID-19 relief package, adding that she was
hopeful for a larger deal "because it has to be done."
All the 11 major S&P indexes were up, with the energy sector
.SPNY tracking a jump in oil prices. O/R
Still, gains were largely led by the real estate .SPLRCR
and utilities .SPLRCU sectors - both considered defensive
plays. U.S. Treasury prices also edged higher, suggesting a
cautious mood across financial markets. US/
"The important point is that we need to step back and
realize: we need more (stimulus). This economy is still in
really bad shape," said John Porter, head of equities at Mellon
in Boston, Massachusetts.
Data on Thursday showed the number of Americans filing new
claims for jobless benefits drifted lower last week but signaled
the labor market was making little headway in getting millions
of people back on the job after being out of work due to
COVID-19 disruptions. Doubts about more fiscal aid and signs of a slowing domestic
economic rebound halted a five-month gaining streak on Wall
Street in September, but the main indexes have since recovered,
partly as investors begin to digest the prospect of Democratic
presidential nominee Joe Biden winning the Nov. 3 election.
Biden appeared to lead Trump among likely voters in Florida
and the two were locked in a tight race in Arizona, according to
Reuters/Ipsos opinion polls released on Wednesday. "Some sort of a blue wave is what investors are increasingly
expecting as an outcome and they're trying to figure out what
that means for the market," Porter said.
Meanwhile, with less than a month left for the election,
Trump rejected plans for a virtual debate on Oct. 15 with Biden,
a format switch intended to reduce the risk of spreading
COVID-19 in light of Trump's infection. By 11:15 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was up 0.40%, the S&P 500 .SPX was up 0.68% and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was up 0.60%.
In company news, Coty Inc COTY.N jumped 9.9% after the
cosmetics maker announced the launch of direct-to-consumer
websites for Kylie Skin brand in the UK, France, Germany and
Australia. International Business Machines Corp IBM.N rose 6.8% after
saying it was splitting itself into two public companies,
capping its years-long effort to diversify away from its legacy
businesses to focus on high-margin cloud computing. Eaton Vance Corp EV.N surged 47.9% and was on course for
its best day ever after Morgan Stanley MS.N agreed to buy the
asset management firm for about $7 billion in a cash-and-stock
deal. Shares of Morgan Stanley gained 1.2%. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners 4.14-to-1 on the NYSE
and 2.27-to-1 on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 52 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 97 new highs and seven new lows.