US STOCKS-Wall St rises on stimulus prospects as jobless claims remain high

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* Trump says talks ongoing for fiscal stimulus
* 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 0.55%, Nasdaq 0.49%

(Updates to open)
By Sagarika Jaisinghani and Devik Jain
Oct 8 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes rose on
Thursday as U.S. President Donald Trump signaled progress in
negotiations around new fiscal stimulus, while data showed
jobless claims remained stubbornly high last week.
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. The Dow Jones airlines index .DJUSAR jumped 1.3%, with
Delta Air Lines Inc DAL.N , United Airlines Holdings Inc
UAL.O , JetBlue Airways Corp JBLU.O and American Airlines
Group Inc AAL.O gaining more than 1% each.
"The market's really dependent upon (fiscal) stimulus and
trying to predict what that'll likely be," said Tim Chubb, chief
investment officer at Girard in West Chester, Pennsylvania.
Suggesting a broader risk-on mood, all the 11 major S&P
indexes were up, with the energy sector .SPNY tracking a jump
in oil prices. O/R
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 U.S. stocks 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. With less than a month left for the election, Trump said on
Thursday he would not participate in a virtual presidential
debate, moments after the commission that oversees the debates
said the event on Oct. 15 would be conducted from remote
locations in the wake of his COVID-19 diagnosis. Meanwhile, data 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. L1N2GY1AZ
At 9:46 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
up 0.40%, the S&P 500 .SPX was up 0.55% and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was up 0.49%.
In company news, Coty Inc COTY.N jumped 4.8% after the
cosmetics maker announced the launch of direct-to-consumer
websites for Kylie Skin brand in the UK, France, Germany and
Australia. Drugmakers Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc REGN.O and Eli
Lilly & Co LLY.N gained 1.8% and 2.5% respectively, after
Trump praised their COVID-19 medications and said he will make
them free for Americans to use. International Business Machines Corp IBM.N rose 7.5% 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 46.3% 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 fell 1.0%. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners 4.56-to-1 on the NYSE
and 2.84-to-1 on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 38 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 80 new highs and five new lows.