By Yasin Ebrahim
Investing.com – The Dow rallied on Wednesday led by a surge in airlines that rose on hopes lawmakers could agree to targeted coronavirus stimulus packages.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.53%, or 425 points. The S&P 500 was up 1.37%, while the Nasdaq Composite added 1.68%.
Hopes for stimulus were restored somewhat after President Donald Trump said he was ready to sign off on piecemeal measures, including support for individuals, small businesses and airlines.
Delta Air Line (NYSE:DAL) rose more than 3%, while American Airlines (NASDAQ:AAL) and United Airlines Holdings (NASDAQ:UAL) were up more than 4%.
The call for targeted stimulus comes a day after Trump halted stimulus talks and claimed U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was negotiating in bad faith. Pelosi said Trump's move to end talks was a "terrible mistake."
Tech, meanwhile, pared its losses from a day earlier. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) were higher, while Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) was flat.
Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX), meanwhile, jumped more than 5% after the Pivotal Research upgraded its price target on the stock to $650 from $600, citing a ramp-up in cord-cutting trends.
Energy lagged the broader move higher, weighed down by falling oil prices on renewed demand concerns after data showed U.S. weekly crude supplies rose by more than expected.
In earnings news, Levi Strauss (NYSE:LEVI) reported quarterly earnings of 8 cents per share, topping estimates for a loss of 22 cents per share, sending the stock more than 6% higher.
The increase in the broader market comes just hours ahead of the Federal Reserve's minutes for its September meeting.
The minutes will be parsed for further clues on the central bank's commitment to continue the pace of bond purchases and how broad consensus was among Fed members to let the economy run hot even if inflation and unemployment meet the bank's target.