Global stock prices continued to rise in Friday’s trading boosted by optimism after U.S. President Donald Trump revived hopes of a stimulus deal.
A few days ago President Trump announced via Twitter that stimulus negotiations were cancelled until after the election on November. However, yesterday (Thursday), Trump told Fox News that negotiations between the White House and Congress had resumed and that an accord would most likely be reached.
Trump told “Mornings with Maria” host Maria Bartiromo: “They were trying to get things, we were trying to get things, it wasn’t going anywhere,”
“I shut it down. I don’t want to play games.”
“We are starting to have very productive talks,” he said. “[House Speaker Nancy Pelosi] wants it to happen too. She doesn’t want it not to happen. I believe she wants it to happen because it’s so good for our country.”
Trump claimed that being discussed were an airline bailout and $1,200-per-person stimulus checks.
Investors React to Trump Stimulus
Investors reacted to the stimulus talk positively, sending stocks higher even in Europe. The pan-European Stoxx 600 is up around 0.60% in the final hour of trading, whilst Germany’s DAX closed up 1.10%. Elsewhere, the UK’s FTSE 100 Index ended the day 0.66%.
With just a few hours trading underway in North America, US stocks are heading for their best week since August. A third straight day of gains will mean a second straight weekly gain the S&P 500 and the Dow.
The Dow Jones is up 0.49%, the S&P 500 up 0.68%, whilst the Nasdaq leads the charge up 1.02%.
Energy stocks fell on fears over Hurricane Delta. However, they are still on course for their biggest percentage gain since June.
Elsewhere, eight of the eleven major S&P indexes are up in early US trading, Materials and information technology stocks leading the gains.
