Wall Street progresses, more optimistic on new stimulus plan

(New York) The New York Stock Exchange closed higher on Tuesday, hoping for progress in congressional negotiations around a new plan to help American businesses and homes hit by the coronavirus crisis. The Toronto Stock Exchange also closed higher, supported by higher commodity prices in the wake of a deadly explosion in Beirut, Lebanon.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, took 0.62% to 26,828.47 points, chaining a third consecutive session of increase.The NASDAQ climbed 0.35% to 10,941.17 points, hitting its 30th record of the year.The broader S&P 500 Index gained 0.36% to 3,306.51 points.The Toronto floor’s S & P / TSX Composite Index gained 198.83 points to end the session at 16,368.03 points. This was the first August trading session for the TSX, which was closed Monday for a statutory holiday in several Canadian provinces, including Ontario. “It looks like things are starting to move forward in Washington towards an agreement on a stimulus package,” said Peter Cardillo, head of market strategy at Spartan Capital Securities. US Republicans and Democrats continued their talks on Tuesday to find a deal on new aid for millions of Americans unemployed due to COVID-19, but also struggling businesses and local communities. House of Representatives Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democrats Leader Chuck Schumer spoke with senior White House officials in the afternoon, including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin . Faced with the stalemate in negotiations, Donald Trump said late Monday to consider acting without waiting for Congress, by decree, to prevent evictions of tenants and reduce wage costs. The big tech stocks, which have pulled the New York Stock Exchange higher in recent weeks, pushing the NASDAQ to new highs, had a mixed session on Tuesday.

Amazon (+ 0.87%), Apple (+ 0.67%) and Netflix (+ 2.21%) gained ground, while Facebook (-0.85%), Google’s parent company, Alphabet ( -0.64%) and especially Microsoft (-1.50%) fell. The title of Microsoft suffered from the confusion around the possible takeover by the computer giant of the social network TikTok, owned by the Chinese group ByteDance. Initially opposed to an acquisition by an American group and threatening to ban the platform in the United States, Donald Trump finally declared himself in favor of a transaction, but demanded that part of the sum return to the Treasury, ensuring that the latter “Made possible” the sale. Kodak in the SEC’s sightsAmong stocks, Ford’s stock rose 2.54% after the announcement of the departure of CEO Jim Hackett, who will be replaced in October by current COO Jim Farley. Ford’s stock has lost about half of its value since 2015 and more than 25% since the start of the year, as the group attempts to reposition itself to meet demand for autonomous vehicles and larger models. AIG fell 7.53%. The American insurer said Monday after the closing to have been affected in the second quarter by the pandemic and the demonstrations against racism as well as by less juicy financial investments, but he assured that the impact of COVID-19 on its activities remained “manageable”.

The Ralph Lauren clothing brand saw its share drop 4.36% after reporting disappointing quarterly results, due to the drop in store sales due to the pandemic. The company suspended its financial outlook for the remainder of the year.

Kodak lost 3.61%. According to the Wall Street Journal, the policeman of the American Stock Exchange, the SEC, has opened an investigation into the federal loan of $ 765 million granted to the group, supposed to allow the specialist in photography to engage in the manufacture of pharmaceutical ingredients.

The SEC is reportedly investigating how Kodak made public the loan, the announcement of which had caused the stock to flare up. In the bond market, the 10-year rate on US debt fell to 0.5085% around 8:50 pm GMT against 0.5543% Monday night.