(Reuters) – Wall Street’s key indices rose on Tuesday as Janet Yellen, the U.S. Treasury Secretary’s nominee, called for a heavy-duty fiscal relief package before lawyers for the world’s largest economy help her escape recession with a pandemic.
At her confirmation hearing, Yellen said the benefits of a large package outweigh the costs of a higher debt burden.
President Joe Biden, who will be sworn in in office Wednesday, outlined a $ 1.9 trillion stimulus package proposal last week to kick-start the economy and accelerate the distribution of vaccines.
“Today is all about Janet Yellen, and the pressure she is taking for motivation,” said Thomas Martin, senior portfolio manager at Globalt Investments in Atlanta, adding that the focus is on encouraging ” laying the foundation for the markets to continue to move higher. ”
With a season of earnings looming, Bank of America rose first as it also peaked fourth-quarter profit estimates and teamed up with JPMorgan, Citigroup Inc and Wells Fargo & Co in releasing some cash reserves to cover for the loss of coronavirus-driven loans, reinforcing its confidence in the economy. . The stock is gaining momentum though and down 0.7%.
U.S. bank’s fourth-quarter profit Goldman Sachs Group Inc more than doubled, dwarfing estimates after hitting its trading and subscription business another blow, but its shares posted early gains to finish 2.3% lower.
Wall Street’s key indices rallied to record recent highs in hopes of a rapid economic recovery with a strong fiscal stimulus package and vaccine circulation.
Eight of 11 S&P departments came forward, with energy tied to the economy, leading the way higher.
The defense facilities, consumer staples and real estate were the only ones in the red.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 116.26 points, or 0.38%, to 30,930.52, the S&P 500 gained 30.66 points, or 0.81%, to 3,798.91 and the Nasdaq Composite added 198.68 points, or 1.53%, to 13,197.18.
General Motors shares jumped 9.7% as top performers on the S&P 500 after Cruise, a self-driving car brand, in which the automaker is a majority shareholder, said it would partner with Microsoft to accelerate the trade in self-driving vehicles.
Netflix shares rose more than 11% after the closing bell on Tuesday after the streaming television provider reported a paid addition for the fourth quarter boosting Wall Street expectations.
Boeing Co gained 3.1% as Canada said it would lift a nearly two-year flight ban on its 737 MAX after two fatal crashes involving the model while a final European license is expected to reopen -starts flying next week.
Forwarding issues higher than those of the NYSE with a 1.92-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 2.15-to-1 ratio of promoters was preferred.
The S&P 500 posted 37 new 52-week highs and no new levels; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 296 new highs and nine new lows.
U.S. exchanges totaled 13.87 billion shares, compared to an average of 12.93 billion for the full session over the last 20 trading days.
Reciting with Echo Wang; Additional statement by Devik Jain and Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Edited by Maju Samuel and Lisa Shumaker