This morning stocks moved up strongly on reports that Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi were about to resume talks over a new coronavirus stimulus package.
As of noon, the Standard & Poor’s 500 was up 1.31% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was ahead 1.59%. The NASDAQ was higher by 1.47%.
Stocks retreated in the afternoon as those talks ended without an agreement. Pelosi announced after the meeting that the House would move forward with a vote later today on a $2.2 trillion stimulus bill.
That bill is opposed by the Republicans who control the Senate and the White House. Both Pelosi and Mnuchin said their talks would continue. But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the sides were “very, very far apart”–meaning it’s unlikely that any agreement struck by Pelosi and Mnuchin could win approval of  Senate Republicans.
The S&P 500 finished the day up 0.83% with the Dow ahead 1.20%. The NADAQ Composite closed with a gain of 0.74%.
That left the S&P 500 with a loss of 3.9% for September, making it the first down month since March.
Most stocks that give up morning gains still closed in the green for the day.
Apple (AAPL), for example, had been up 2.35% at noon but closed with a gain of 1.51%. Facebook (FB) managed to cling to a 0.04% gain after being up 1.02% at noon.
