Global Stocks Rise on Optimism That Some Stimulus Will Get Enacted After All

Text size

Stocks gave up some of their morning gains on Thursday, but remained in the green in afternoon trading.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said earlier that she wouldn’t support a narrower stimulus bill including targeted aid for airlines. It remains all or nothing for a fiscal and coronavirus relief package, with party leaders still far apart on its size and scope.

Indexes across the globe were still holding on to modest gains, however, helped by a number of incrementally positive factors.

There was reason for optimism on the Covid-19 vaccine and treatment front, with President Donald Trump touting

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals

’ (ticker: REGN) antibody cocktail and the company saying it would seek emergency use authorization. And betting odds of a Democratic election victory in November ticked higher after Wednesday night’s vice-presidential debate, increasing the odds of a multi-trillion dollar fiscal stimulus bill should one party control Washington.

Initial jobless claims remain high, but continuing claims fell from a week ago and came in below economists’ consensus. Although the shift is slower pace than over the summer, the U.S. economy continues to recover. Technically minded traders noted that after a string of recent gains, the

S&P 500

just crossed above its 50-day moving average.

The

Dow Jones Industrial Average

climbed 94 points, or 0.3%. The S&P 500 was up 0.7% and the

Nasdaq Composite

gained 0.4%. All 11 sectors in the S&P 500 were up on the day.

The

Nikkei 225

rose 1% in Tokyo and the

Kospi Composite

added 0.2% in Seoul, while the

Hang Seng

eased by 0.2%. The Stoxx Europe 600 closed 0.8% higher, led by a 0.9% gain for the German

DAX.

U.S. stocks rallied strongly on Wednesday, with the Dow gaining 530 points, after both Trump and Pelosi indicated support for some amount of stimulus before the election.

“Whether due to residual hopes that piecemeal U.S. budget support measures might yet find agreement, or, more likely, that polls increasingly point to a [Joe] Biden win in early November and a Democrat-controlled Senate, investors appear to be concluding that more fiscal stimulus is certain even if its timing is not,” said Emily Nicol, an economist for Daiwa in London.

Tom Porcelli, chief U.S. economist at RBC Capital Markets, said a stimulus package in the area of $700 billion would likely be enough of an insurance policy through the end of the first quarter of 2021 against a deteriorating backdrop due to Covid.

The debate between Vice President Mike Pence and Democratic vice-presidential nominee Kamala Harris on Wednesday night was a more traditional clash than the first presidential debate, and widely perceived as not having changed the dynamic of the election.

Morgan Stanley

(MS) shares gained 0.7% after the bank announced it was going to buy

Eaton Vance

(EV) in a $7 billion cash and stock deal. Shares of Eaton Vance soared 48%. The deal comes just after Morgan Stanley completed its acquisition of E*Trade Financial.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals shares climbed 1.9% after Trump touted the company’s Covid-19 antibody treatment, which he took last week. Regeneron submitted a request for an emergency-use authorization to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to make the experimental treatment more widely available.

Domino’s Pizza

(DPZ) shares slid 6.9% after management reported weaker-than-expected profits for the third quarter. The pizza chain has been helped by a surge in at-home dining but high pandemic-related costs weighed on the results.

IBM

(IBM) announced it will split its managed infrastructure arm into a new public company. Shares rose 5.4%, boosting the Dow.

Costco Wholesale

(COST) reported 17% sales growth in September, as the retailer continues to flourish during the Covid-19 pandemic. Shares added 0.7%.

Write to Steve Goldstein at [email protected] and Carleton English at [email protected]