Stocks End Higher as Trump Lifts Stimulus Offer to $1.8 Trillion

October 10, 2020

New York (Oct 10)  Stocks finished higher Friday after the White House reportedly increased its stimulus package offer to $1.8 trillion and will take the proposal to congressional Democrats.

White House Economic Adviser Larry Kudlow said on Friday that President Trump had approved a revised coronavirus stimulus package.

“The president has approved a revised package. He would like to do a deal,” Kudlow told Fox Business. “It will be relatively broad based but I can’t go through details.”

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will be discussing the plan with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi later Friday, according to Kudlow.

Pelosi told MSNBC she and Mnuchin set aside some time Friday to speak.

“The devil and the angels are in the details,” she said. “So part of it is about money. And part of it is about policy.”

House Democrats passed a $2.2 trillion aid package last week.

Trump tweeted on Friday that “Covid Relief Negotiations are moving along. Go Big!”

And Trump told radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh that he “would like to see a bigger stimulus package frankly than either the Democrats or Republicans are offering.”

Trump's embrace of a comprehensive aid package reverses a decision he made earlier this week to call off U.S. stimulus negotiations.

Trump had ordered his representatives on Tuesday to halt talks until after the Nov. 3 presidential election because he said Pelosi was negotiating in bad faith.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 161 points, or 0.57%, to 28,586, the S&P 500 rose 0.88% and the Nasdaq gained 1.39%.

For the week the Dow industrials rose 3.3%, the S&P 500 tacked on 3.8%, and the Nasdaq Composite lifted 4.6%.

Tech stocks jumped following reports that said Advanced Micro Devices  (AMD) - Get Report was in advanced talks to buy rival chipmaker Xilinx, a takeover that could be valued at $30 billion.

Xilinx rose 14% to $120.94, while AMD declined 3.9% to $83.10.

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“The on-and-off nature of the fiscal stimulus discussion in the U.S. hardly inspires lasting confidence,” said Mizuho Bank. “Uncertainty around the presidential election on 3 November will likely persist not only through to polling day but possibly after."

Stocks had ended higher on Thursday as Wall Street parsed the mixed signals about a stimulus package from Trump and Pelosi. Pelosi said Thursday she wouldn't agree to a stand-alone relief bill for airlines without a guarantee that a more comprehensive package would be addressed.

Oil prices eased Friday but were on track for weekly gains, boosted by disruptions in the Gulf of Mexico from a strengthening Hurricane Delta.

TheStreet

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