Wall Street perks up as S&P 500 pulls within 1.1% of record

NEW YORK — Stocks perked higher on Wall Street Thursday after a report showed the pace of layoffs across the country is slowing, though it remains incredibly high.

The S&P 500 rose 21.39, or 0.6%, to 3,349.16, as investors also waited for Congress and the White House to reach a hoped-for deal on more aid for the economy. It was the fifth straight gain for the index, which now hangs just 1.1% below its record set in February. Early in the spring, when panic about the pandemic was at its height, the S&P 500 had been down nearly 34%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 185.46, or 0.7%, to 27,386.98 after it and other indexes waffled between smaller gains and losses for much of the day. The Nasdaq composite rose 109.67, or 1%, to 11,108.07 and set another record.

The day’s headline economic report showed that nearly 1.2 million workers applied for unemployment benefits last week. It would have been an astounding number before the coronavirus pandemic leveled the economy. But it’s a slight slowdown from the prior week’s tally, and it was also not as bad as economists were expecting.

It was also the first drop in jobless claims following two weeks of increases, and economists called it an encouraging step. But the threat of more business closures due to the continuing pandemic means the path remains treacherous.

Investors have been pushing stocks higher despite such worries, in part on expectations that Washington will work through partisan disagreements and strike a deal on more assistance for out-ofwork Americans, along with other measures.

Investors say it’s crucial that the aid comes, and quickly, after $600 weekly in jobless benefits from the U.S. government recently expired. The economy has shown signs of improvement since the spring, but it’s still hobbling, and worries are high that it may backtrack amid a resurgence in coronavirus counts.

Democrats and Republicans traded criticism of each other on Thursday, following a Wednesday session that produced no progress. Negotiations are continuing, and both sides have set a goal of reaching a deal by week’s end, even if that increasingly appears to be out of reach.

Despite the market’s gains, slightly more stocks fell in the S&P 500 than rose, with the health care sector the heaviest weight on the index.

More gains for Apple helped to lift the market. The iPhone maker reported blowout profits for the spring a week ago, and its stock has climbed every day since then. The gains have been so strong that it may become the country’s first company to be worth $2 trillion. After rising 3.5% Thursday, it’s at roughly $1.93 trillion.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury dipped to 0.53% from 0.54% late Wednesday. It pared a steeper drop from the morning, but it remains very low amid worries about the economy and as the Federal Reserve has pinned short-term rates at nearly zero.

Gold also continued its record run as investors looked for safety. Gold for delivery in December rose $20.10 to settle at $2,069.40 per ounce.

Benchmark U.S. crude oil slipped 24 cents to settle at $41.95 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 8 cents to $45.09 a barrel.