US STOCKS-Wall St edges higher as investors cling to stimulus hopes
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* Weekly jobless claims dip below 800,000, but remain elevated
* Tesla rises after fifth straight quarterly profit
* Coca-Cola up after results beat
* Indexes up: Dow 0.12%, S&P 0.24%, Nasdaq 0.41% (Updates to open)
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The number of Americans filing for state unemployment benefits last week dropped more than expected to 787,000, but remained stubbornly high as support from fiscal stimulus faded.
"There is still hope for stimulus talks, but the market is
getting more and more unsure whether or not it's going to
happen," said
"Anybody who is realistic about it realizes that the stimulus is not going to come until sometime after the election."
U.S. House Speaker
Pelosi and Treasury Secretary
All eyes will be on the final presidential debate on
Thursday night, where Trump will attempt to change the
trajectory of the race that Democratic challenger
Six of the 11 major S&P sectors rose with the healthcare index adding 1.1%.
At
Tesla Inc (TSLA) climbed 3.0% after the electric-car maker
reported its fifth consecutive quarterly profit and record
revenue of
Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc (CMG) fell 6.3% as it posted a drop in quarterly profit, hurt by higher beef prices, delivery costs and coronavirus-related expenses.
Among blue-chip companies, Coca-Cola Co (KO) gained 1.8% as it beat quarterly results expectations, while chemicals maker Dow Inc (DOW) rose 1.0% after it surpassed quarterly profit estimates.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners 1.68-to-1 on the NYSE and 1.77-to-1 on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded eight new 52-week highs and no new
low, while the Nasdaq recorded 28 new highs and 10 new lows.
(Reporting by