US STOCKS-Wall Street surges on rekindled stimulus optimism

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* Pelosi, Mnuchin express hope for COVID-19 relief package
* U.S. stock indexes set to post monthly loss, quarterly
gain
* Private payrolls, home sales data beat expectations
* Indexes up: Dow 1.96%, S&P 1.64%, Nasdaq 1.68%

(New throughout, updates prices, market activity and comments
to late afternoon; new byline, adds NEW YORK dateline)
By Stephen Culp
NEW YORK, Sept 30 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks jumped on
Wednesday as fresh hopes for a new pandemic relief package and
upbeat economic data set the major indexes on course to end the
quarter on a high note.
All three major indexes moved sharply higher after U.S.
House of Representative Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury
Secretary Steven Mnuchin both expressed hope for a breakthrough
in partisan stimulus negotiations. "The real thing that's pushing the markets higher today is
hopes for additional stimulus," said Robert Pavlik, chief
investment strategist at SlateStone Wealth LLC in New York. "But
you combine that with good economic news and throw in
quarter-end window dressing, you end up with a market that's up
as opposed to where futures were headed last night after the
debate."
Market participants were digesting Tuesday's contentious
presidential debate, where President Donald Trump and Democratic
challenger Joe Biden talked over each other and traded insults
as they sparred over Trump's record on the COVID-19 pandemic,
healthcare and the economy. "The debate made it look like we had preschoolers running
the country," Pavlik added. "It wasn't a debate it was an
argument. It didn't inspire any confidence."
A spate of economic data on Wednesday mostly surprised to
the upside, with ADP National Employment index blowing past
analyst expectations and pending home sales surging to an
all-time high. The major indexes were on track to wrap up September with
their first monthly declines since March, when mandated
shutdowns slammed the economy.
But the indexes are expected to show third-quarter gains,
with the S&P and the Nasdaq were on course for their biggest
two-quarter winning streaks since 2009.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 536.82 points,
or 1.96%, to 27,989.48, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 54.54 points,
or 1.64%, to 3,390.01 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added
186.02 points, or 1.68%, to 11,271.27.
All 11 major sectors in the S&P 500 were in positive
territory, with healthcare .SPXHC and financials .SPSY
enjoying the largest percentage gains.
Moderna Inc MRNA.O rose 3.1% after researchers said the
company's COVID-19 vaccine candidate produced encouraging
results. Nikola Corp NKLA.O stock soared by 20.0% after Chief
Executive Mark Russell said he was close to a deal with an
energy partner and defended the company against a short-seller's
fraud allegations. Micron Technology Inc MU.O said it has not yet obtained
new licenses needed to sell memory chips to China's Huawei
Technologies Co Ltd HWT.UL , sending its shares down 5.7%.
Duke Energy Corp DUK.N jumped 7.3% after the Wall Street
Journal said the company had been approached by peer NextEra
Energy Inc NEE.N regarding a possible takeover. Shares of
NextEra Energy fell 1.4%.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
2.08-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.87-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 13 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 56 new highs and 25 new lows.