S&P 500 Index opens modestly higher supported by rising energy stocks
- Wall Street's main indexes started the day modestly higher.
- All major sectors of the S&P 500 Index trade in the positive territory.
- Energy stocks post strong gains on rising crude oil prices.
Following Wednesday's impressive rally, major equity indexes in the US started the day modestly higher on Thursday as investors are waiting for fresh developments surrounding standalone COVID-19 relief bills.
As of writing, the S&P 500 was up 0.64% on the day at 3,441, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was gaining 0.47% at 28,430 and the Nasdaq Composite was rising 0.46% at 11,556.
Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, the Energy Index is up 1.85% on the day supported by rising crude oil prices. The barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) is currently trading at its highest level in more than two weeks at $41.05, up 2.6% on the day.
Earlier in the day, the data published by the US Department of Labor showed that the weekly Initial Jobless Claims declined by 9,000 to 840,000 in the week ending October 3rd. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump told Fox Business Network that there is a "really good chance" they could reach a deal with Democrats on COVID aid and noted that they are working on airline relief and individual stimulus checks.
S&P 500 chart (daily)
