October 20, 2020

Stocks closed higher today as traders hope a deal can be reached for the next stimulus deal by the end of today. In economic news, housing starts were 1.415 million in September, slightly, lower than expected.

Dow Jones finished +113 at 28,308

S&P 500 finished +16 at 3,443

NASDAQ finished +38 at 11,516

The 10 Year Treasury closed up 3 basis points yielding 0.79%

Oil prices closed up $0.68 ending at $41.51 a barrel

Gold prices closed up $1.70 ending at $1,913 an ounce

In the days’ stock news:

IBM beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates. However, IBM shares closed down more than 6%. This was caused by the company declining to issue a current-quarter outlook due to pandemic-related uncertainty.
Moderna’s CEO said the company’s Covid-19 vaccine candidate could receive emergency use authorization from the FDA in December, depending on results expected next month from a large clinical trial.