Dow jumps 530 points as airline stimulus hopes lift transportation stocks to record

Stocks closed near session highs on Wednesday as investors bet a stimulus plan, full or partial, will come together after President Trump dialed back plans to scrap the talks.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
I:DJI	DOW JONES AVERAGES	37775.38	+22.07	+0.06%
I:COMP	NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX	15601.498878	-81.87	-0.52%
SP500	S&P 500	5011.12	-11.09	-0.22%

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up over 530 points or 1.9% while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rose over 1.7 and 1.8%, respectively.

Transportation stocks soared to a fresh record, as did consumer discretionary names, both would likely benefit from a stimulus deal.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
XTN	SPDR SERIES TRUST SPDR S TR/S&P TRANSN ETF	77.53	-0.29	-0.37%
XLY	CONSUMER DISCRETIONARY SELECT SECTOR SPDR ETF	171.21	-1.08	-0.63%

Trump reversed an earlier stance and signaled he would be willing to sign bills from Congress to support the economy.

He said he would sign a "stand alone bill" for another round of economic stimulus checks in the amount of $1,200. He also promised help for the battered airline industry in the form of $25 billion in relief and also touted releasing funds for small businesses from the Paycheck Protection Program.

Airlines In Focus

All the major airlines rallied as talk of a separate rescue package for the embattled group gains attention between House Speaker Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Mnuchin.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
AAL	AMERICAN AIRLINES GROUP INC.	14.02	+0.13	+0.94%
DAL	DELTA AIR LINES INC.	47.85	-0.03	-0.06%
UAL	UNITED AIRLINES HOLDINGS INC.	51.42	+2.68	+5.50%
LUV	SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO.	29.06	+0.28	+0.99%
JBLU	JETBLUE AIRWAYS CORP.	7.11	+0.28	+4.10%

SOUTHWEST CEO PUSHING PAY CUTS

FOMC Warns On Lack of Stimulus 

Stocks marched higher despite more cautious comments from the Federal Reserve. In the minutes of the last meeting, officials felt the lack of more stimulus would slow the recovery.

DOW FALLS 375 POINTS AS TRUMP CANS STIMULUS TALKS IN PELOSI SHOWDOWN

TECH IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Shares of the large U.S. tech companies -- Apple Inc., Facebook Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Alphabet -- will be in the spotlight after a panel of Congressional lawmakers recommended substantial changes and said they enjoy "monopoly power."

House Democrats found the four companies -- worth a collective $5.6 trillion in market cap -- have enjoyed stifling competition and need to be reigned in by lawmakers and regulators. The findings, laid out in a 443-page report, can be read in their entirety here.

On Tuesday, Apple sent out press invites for a product event next week, widely believed to be the 5G iPhone.

Shares of the big four tech companies were all higher, with Amazon topping the chart with gains of more than 3%.

Netflix Inc. shares were rising after Pivotal Research raised its price target on the streaming video giant to $650, a high on Wall Street. The firm, led by CEO Reed Hastings, was also under the spotlight after Reuters reported it was being sued in Texas over the controversial film, "Cuties."

AT&T Inc. shares were active after the New York Post reported late Tuesday that bids for its DirecTV unit were lower-than-expected.

Walt Disney Co. shares were gaining after activist investor Dan Loeb called on the entertainment giant to cut its dividend and invest the proceeds in streaming content.

Citigroup Inc. fired an executive after it was revealed that he played a role in operating the most prominent website dedicated to the QAnon conspiracy theory.

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West Texas Intermediate crude fell over 1% to $39.35 per barrel level. On Wednesday, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said weekly crude inventories rose 0.5 million barrels, higher than the 0.3 million traders were expecting.

Gold also lost ground, declining to $1,883.60 an ounce.

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