Los Angeles Times

Stocks back on upward track

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Stocks notched broad gains on Wall Street on Tuesday as renewed optimism that Washington will deliver more aid to the struggling economy put investors in a buying mood.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index climbed 1.3%, snapping a four- day losing streak. Technology companies powered much of the rally, which helped push the tech- heavy Nasdaq composite to an all- time high.

An index of small- company stocks also set a record high. Treasury yields rose.

Negotiatio­ns between Democrats and Republican­s on another round of coronaviru­s relief have been dragging on for weeks.

Fresh signs of cooperatio­n Tuesday appeared to boost the market’s confidence that Washington can reach a deal. A bipartisan group of lawmakers unveiled a detailed proposal. Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ( D- San Francisco) and Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin held another round of talks.

Also helping to steady the market were hopes for an improving economy next year as COVID- 19 vaccines become more widely distribute­d.

A vaccine candidate developed by Moderna and the National Institutes of Health may be on the cusp of regulatory approval after the Food and Drug Administra­tion said its preliminar­y analysis confirmed its safety and effectiven­ess.

It would join the nation’s f irst vaccine, which just began rolling out. Hundreds of hospital and healthcare facilities are getting their first shipments of the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.

The S& P 500 rose 47.13 points to 3,694.62. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 337.76 points, or 1.1%, to 30,199.31.

The Nasdaq climbed 155.02 points, or 1.3%, to 12,595.06. That eclipsed the index’s last all- time high set a week ago.

About 90% of the companies in the benchmark S& P 500 notched gains, led by technology, f inancial and healthcare stocks.

Small- company stocks did especially well, a sign that investors are feeling more optimistic about prospects for the economy. The Russell 2000 index picked up 45.91 points, or 2.4%, to 1,959.76, a record high.

The Russell 2000 trailed the broader market for most of this year as investors bet that larger companies, especially Big Tech stocks, would be better suited to weather the economic fallout from the pandemic. Now it’s up 17.5% for the year, while the S& P 500 is up 13.4%.

Another big gain for Apple also helped to lift Wall Street. It’s the most inf luential stock in the S& P 500 because of the company’s massive market value, and it rose 5% after a report from Japan’s Nikkei said it may produce more iPhones in the f irst half of 2021 than analysts had been expecting.

Much of the market’s focus remains on Washington, though, where a deep partisan divide has kept Congress from delivering another dose of f inancial support for the economy.

The number of U. S. workers applying for unemployme­nt benefits is back on the rise, as government­s around the country and world bring back varying degrees of restrictio­ns on businesses.

Another round of f inancial support from Washington could help carry the economy through what’s expected to be a bleak winter, before vaccines help things get closer to normal next year.

The yield on the 10- year Treasury rose to 0.91% from 0.88% late Monday.

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