Stocks up as Wall Street waits for federal aid

U.S. stocks climbed on Thursday, but only after pinballing through another shaky day of trading, as

Wall Street waits to see if Washington can get past its partisanship to deliver another economic rescue package.

The S&P 500 ended the day 17.80 points higher, or 0.5 percent, at 3,380.80, but it careened from an early 1 percent gain to a slight loss before arriving there.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 35.20 points, or 0.1 percent, to 27,816.90 after earlier bouncing between a gain of 259 points and a loss of 112. The Nasdaq composite rose a healthier 159.00 points or 1.4 percent, to 11,326.51 as big tech-oriented stocks propped up the market, much as they have through the pandemic.

Such big swings have become typical recently, as investors handicap the chances of a deal on Capitol Hill to send more cash to Americans, restore jobless benefits for laid-off workers and deliver assistance to airlines and other industries hit particularly hard by the pandemic.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin continued their talks on Thursday, but no breakthrough arrived before stock trading ended on Wall Street. Instead, there were only hopes that were periodically raised and dashed as government officials took turns criticizing each other.

“The market, for lack of really anything else to trade off of, has responded to these headlines on the potential for stimulus,” said Scott Wren, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute.

Data reports released in the morning also painted a mixed picture on the economy, which added to the market’s sloshing around.

One indicated the pace of layoffs across the country may have slowed last week, with the number of workers filing for unemployment benefits falling to 837,000 from 873,000. It’s a larger decline than economists expected, though the number remains incredibly high compared with before the pandemic.

“We’re certainly expecting the employment situation to slowly improve,” Wren said. “Things seem to be moving in the right direction.”

Consumer spending also strengthened by more than expected in August, which is key because it’s the main driver of the U.S. economy. But other reports were more discouraging. Personal incomes weakened by more than expected last month, and growth in the country’s manufacturing sector also fell short of forecasts.