Wall Street's main indexes rose on Wednesday on signs of more stimulus to aid small businesses ride out the coronavirus-induced economic slump and a recovery in oil prices.

US crude and benchmark Brent prices edged higher after a collapse in the past two days, sending the S&P 500 energy index up 3.4%, with Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron Corp among the top gainers on the blue-chip Dow Jones.

All the 11 major S&P 500 sub-indexes were trading higher, as the US Senate approved a relief package of $484 billion, adding to trillions of dollars in stimulus that have helped Wall Street rebound from its March lows.

Netflix Inc more than doubled its own projections for new customers in the first quarter. However, its shares fell 2.2% as it forecast a weaker second half if the lockdown measures were to be lifted.

At 11:32 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 417.04 points, or 1.81%, at 23,435.92, the S&P 500 was up 55.30 points, or 2.02%, at 2,791.86 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 190.82 points, or 2.31%, at 8,454.05.

Copyright Reuters, 2020

Comments

Comments are closed.