Stocks rose broadly in morning trading on Wall Street as investors welcomed signals that a standoff in Congress over the federal debt ceiling is closer to a resolution.
The S&P 500 rose 1.4% as of 10:16 a.m. Eastern. Roughly 95% of stocks within the benchmark index gained ground. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 514 points, or 1.5%, to 34,930 and the Nasdaq rose 1.6%.
Markets in Europe and Asia were also broadly higher.
The market snapped out of a days-long bout of volatility late Wednesday after Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell made an offer that would allow an emergency extension of the debt ceiling into December.
The debt ceiling caps the amount of money the federal government can borrow and it needed to be raised by Oct. 18. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen had warned that the the nation would likely face a financial crisis and economic recession if Congress failed to do so.
The debt ceiling debate and the potential for an unprecedented federal default is one of many concerns weighing on the market. Those worries sent the benchmark S&P 500 swinging between daily gains and losses of more than 1% for four days.
Investors received another encouraging piece of news on Thursday after the Labor Department reported that the number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell last week for the first time in four weeks. The labor market has been struggling to recover from the pandemic's initial impact 18 months ago when lockdowns from COVID-19 gutted jobs.
Wall Street will get another snapshot Friday of the job market and its recovery when the Labor Department releases its employment report for September.
Inflation remains a key concern for Wall Street and investors are closely watching the Federal Reserve for any shift in its timetable for raising interest rates. The Fed’s policymaking committee recently signaled the central bank could start raising rates late next year. Analysts have said that the Fed could act sooner than expected if high inflation persists.
Bond yields rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 1.55% from 1.52% late Wednesday.
COVID-19 continues to hamper the economic recovery following a surge of cases over the summer. Consumer spending and job growth was stunted and supply chain problems crimped operations in a wide range of industries.
More positive news on fighting off future spikes of the virus came from Pfizer on Thursday. It asked U.S. regulators to allow use of its COVID-19 vaccine in children ages 5 to 11. The drug developer's stock rose 1.9%.
A growing number of workers at major produce companies, processing plants, and grocery stores are calling out sick.
These virus-related absences are resulting in product shortages, leaving supermarket shelves far from full. Jesse Newman, agriculture reporter at The Wall Street Journal, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
There may be some light at the end of the tunnel for struggling retailer Kohl's. Shares soared more than 35 percent on Monday on reports that a second takeover could potentially be in the works - just days after a group backed by activist investment firm Starboard Value proposed buying the company. Private equity firm Sycamore Partners has allegedly reached out to Kohl's, offering to pay at least $65 per share in cash for the company - giving it a valuation of close to $9 billion. Joel Bines, Global Head of Retail at AlixPartners, joined Cheddar Movers to discuss the potential takeover as well as the state of retail in the U.S.
Big Apple workers who deliver for food apps like Doordash and Grubhub will now receive a number of legal protections provided through a package of new regulations that have started going into effect. These updated rules include more control over their deliveries, pay and tip transparency, a higher minimum pay rate, and access to restaurant bathrooms during the workday. New York City Comptroller Brad Lander joined Cheddar to elaborate on the regulations and how the platform holders reacted. "I have to say it's a mixed bag," he said. "Grubhub actually welcomed the legislation and said they recognize they need to do better by their deliveristas, but DoorDash, unfortunately, has actually been pushing back against the legislation."
Stocks closed mixed Wednesday after the Federal Reserve's announcement about potential rate hikes this year, beginning as soon as March. That would be the central bank's first rate hike since 2018, and Chair Jerome Powell also didn't rule out a potential rate hike at every meeting in order to combat inflation. RC Peck, CIO of Fearless Wealth, joined Closing Bell to discuss today's close, the Fed's announcement, Tesla's Q4 2021 earnings results, and more.
Stocks closed lower Tuesday, but off session lows amid continued volatility as investors await this week's Federal Reserve meeting, where the central bank is expected to introduce tighter monetary policy. Microsoft also reported second quarter fiscal 2022 earnings after the bell. The tech giant beat on both top and bottom lines, but shares fell after hours. David Stryzewski, CEO of the Sound Planning Group, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss today's close, predictions for this week's Fed meeting, Microsoft's earnings report, and more.
Thomas Hoenig, Former CEO of Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and currently Distinguished Senior Fellow with the Mercatus Center, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says the Fed's decision was no surprise, but believes the Fed is behind the curve on raising rates.
Business communication platform Slack, recently released its fifth wave of results from its global workplace survey from its Future Forum consortium, showing that the workforce has already moved to a split between working from home and going to the office. “We are now officially in the hybrid era of work,” Slack Future Forum VP Sheela Subramanian said when discussing the findings. "Hybrid is a work model where people can come into the office as well as work remotely, and what we're seeing is that the majority of knowledge workers are now in this arrangement — and that number is set to grow."
Legal cannabis businesses are having a hard time surviving in California with the high cost of doing business and a still-thriving illicit market. In response, nonprofit Supernova Women, founded by women of color, is advocating on behalf of Black and brown shareholders in the cannabis industry. Amber Senter, co-founder, executive director, and chairman of the organization, spoke with Cheddar News about calling for changes in the Golden State's taxation system for legal marijuana. "We're really leaning on the legislators now to support the industry and make sure that this industry, in particular craft cannabis, can survive," said Senter.
