Talks between the White House and Congress are reportedly back underway
Wall Street markets advanced on Thursday amid further reports on new developments in pandemic relief negotiations in Washington. U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday that legislation to help airline companies could only move through Congress with guarantees that lawmakers would work on a fuller bill. Senate Leader Mitch McConnell warned there remain vast differences between Democrats and Republicans regarding the size of fiscal aid. Still, investors continued to express hopes for the eventual consensus. As a result, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.43%, the S&P 500 gained 0.80%, and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.5%.
Asian stocks were mixed-to-higher on Friday, with equities in mainland China surged as they returned to trade from long holidays. China’s Caixin/Markit services Purchasing Managers’ Index for September came in at 54.8, higher than expected. The Shanghai Composite finished 1.68% higher on Friday while Japan’s Nikkei 225 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 0.12% and 0.31%, respectively. Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 closed flat at the end of the week.
European equities opened modestly higher after U.S. President Donald Trump revived hopes of a stimulus deal, saying that talks between the White House and Congress were back underway. On the data front, the U.K. economy grew 2.1% in August on a monthly basis, well below analyst expectations of a 4.6% expansion. As of writing, the Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.4% and was up 1.5% for the week.
Meanwhile, the dollar came under the renewed selling pressure against major currencies amid investor optimism over fiscal stimulus measures in the United States. EURUSD has accelerated the ascent in recent trading, climbing back to the 1.18 figure that could be challenged if upbeat risk sentiment persists in the short term. However, as currency market trading remains muted in general, the pair could lack upside momentum to overcome this barrier by the end of the trading day. Furthermore, should risk demand start to wane, the euro may retreat and trim intraday gains.
