China smartphone shipments slumped in June on inventory overhang: Jefferies
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By Stephen Culp
NEW YORK, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Wall Street closed higher at the
end of a whipsaw session on Thursday as investors juggled
hopeful and pessimistic news on the progress of stimulus talks
Washington amid signs of waning momentum of economic recovery
from the pandemic recession, now entering its ninth month.
All three major U.S. stock indexes closed higher, with the
Nasdaq in the lead and the Dow seeing the smallest gain.
A spate of data, including jobless claims and consumer
spending, suggested that the plodding economic recovery could be
losing steam. Investors now look to the Labor Department's employment
report expected Friday to further gauge the economy's progress.
In negotiations for a new pandemic relief deal, the White
House countered House Democrats' $2.2 trillion package with a
$1.5 trillion-plus proposal. But an imminent deal seemed elusive after U.S. House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi cautioned that Democrats and the White House
remained locked in a debate over dollars an values. "It's all about fiscal stimulus and the ball is in Congress'
court," said Ryan Detrick, senior market strategist at LPL
Financial in Charlotte, North Carolina. "We continue to believe
they're inching closer and approaching the final inning, but the
last stretch is often the hardest."
"We believe we'll have a deal before the election and both
sides will claim victory," Detrick added.
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq again got their most support from
large cap tech and tech-adjacent market leaders.
"With the disappointment out of Washington we see this move
back to the safety trade of big tech," Detrick said. "Today is a
microcosm of last six months."
Unofficially, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose
47.93 points, or 0.17%, to 27,829.63, the S&P 500 .SPX gained
18.76 points, or 0.56%, to 3,381.76 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC added 160.84 points, or 1.44%, to 11,328.35.
With the books closed on the third quarter, market
participants await earnings season, set to get underway in about
two weeks.
Analysts currently see S&P 500 earnings, in aggregate,
falling by 21.4% year-on-year according to Refinitiv.
Exxon Mobil Corp XOM.N dropped after it signaled a
bigger-than-expected third quarter loss due to falling oil
prices and plunging demand.
Shares for retailer Bed Bath & Beyond Inc BBBY.O soared
after posting a surprise quarterly profit due to its booming
online business. Boeing Co BA.N rose after Federal Aviation Administration
Chief Steve Dickson remarked "I liked what I saw" following
Wednesday's 737 MAX test flight.