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The US stock market finished session higher on Tuesday, 20 October 2020, as risk sentiments underpinned on continued hope the lawmakers will eventually agree on a stimulus plan sometime soon. Reports that Moderna's coronavirus vaccine could be available for emergency use in December if it gets positive results from interim trial in November further aided sentiment. Major indexes pared gains in the final minutes of trading ahead of news on the last day of talks on fiscal stimulus to boost the U.S. economy ahead of a self-imposed deadline.
At closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index added 113.37 points, or 0.4%, to 28,308.79. The S&P 500 index rose by 16.20 points, or 0.47%, to 3,443.12. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 37.61 points, or 0.33%, to 11,516.49.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said today that Democrats and the White House have moved closer to a coronavirus stimulus agreement. Pelosi is scheduled to discuss again with Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin later in the afternoon. Pelosi downplayed the importance of an end-of-Tuesday deadline she had set to strike an agreement and added that she would continue to discuss, saying lawmakers would have to come to a deal and write a bill before the end of the week in order to have a legistlation ready before Election Day.
Tech shares shook off the US Justice Department's decision to sue Google for allegedly abusing its power. Alphabet's shares rose 1.4%. Procter & Gamble shares climbed 0.4% after reporting sales growth of 9% for the previous quarter. Shares of insurer Travelers gained 5.6% as it beat quarterly profit expectations. But IBM shares fell 6.5% after it refused to issue a current quarter outlook.
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