By Jesse Cohen
Investing.com - Stocks on Wall Street ended higher on Friday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq wrapping up their best week since early July amid optimism that U.S. lawmakers will agree on a new Covid-19 aid package.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 161 points higher, or around 0.6%, at 28,586, a level not seen since September 3.
The S&P 500 jumped nearly 0.9% to close at 3,477, its best level since September 4.
The Nasdaq Composite rallied 1.4% to end at 11,579, its highest since September 3.
For the week, the Dow rose 3.3%, posting its best one-week performance since August. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq climbed 3.8% and 4.6%, respectively, for the week. Both benchmarks had their biggest weekly gains since early July.
On Friday afternoon, the Trump administration raised its offer for a new stimulus package to $1.8 trillion from $1.6 trillion, but it was still below the $2.2 trillion sought by Democrats.
President Trump later told radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh that he “would like to see a bigger stimulus package frankly than either the Democrats or Republicans are offering.”
Trump’s comments came after he abruptly ended aid talks with the Democrats earlier in the week.
U.S. stocks could face more volatility this week as investors focus on further clues on how stimulus negotiations are developing in Washington ahead of the looming November 3 election.
Markets will also be tested by the start of the third-quarter earnings season on Wall Street in the coming week.
JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) and Citigroup (NYSE:C) report their results on Tuesday, followed by Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) and Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) on Wednesday. Thursday will then see Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) report their earnings.
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