US Stocks Edge Up On Renewed Stimulus Hopes

Wall Street recouped some of Monday's losses on Tuesday, closing slightly higher amid renewed signs Washington policymakers can finally agree on a spending package to aid the US economy.

The Dow Jones gained 0.4 percent to end at 28,308.

The S&P 500 gained 0.5 percent to 3,443 while the Nasdaq rose 0.3 percent to 11,516.

Investors got a pleasant surprise in the afternoon when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said lawmakers were starting to write stimulus spending legislation and she was optimistic it could be passed before the November 3 election.

And Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has rejected the proposed price tag of around US$2 trillion, changed course and said he would bring the package to a vote if there is a bill President Donald Trump supports.

Talks on a package to aid the coronavirus-ravaged US economy have dragged on for months with each side blaming the other for blocking a deal.

White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin made "good progress" on a spending package and hoped to get a deal by the end of the week.

But the sides remain "several hundred billion dollars" apart. "At the end of the day this is going to have to be a bipartisan deal," he said on CNBC.

Peter Hanks, strategist at DailyFX, said investors continue to await "some clarity" on the talks.

But the dynamics in markets will change soon since, "Once the election comes, stimulus will be in the rearview and the election will take over."

Meanwhile, Commerce Department data released before the market opened showed housing construction grew modestly in September amid booming demand from home buyers, with residential construction rising 1.9 percent from August.

Single-family homes surged but weakness in multi-family unit construction held down overall growth.

Procter and Gamble shares erased an early surge, closing just 0.4 percent higher, after posting better-than-expected earnings. Profits rose nine percent to US$19.3 billion in the third quarter, well above the US$18.3 billion analysts had forecast, boosted in part by pandemic-driven demand for cleaning products. (AFP)