Wall Street Reopens Higher as Yellen Rams Home Stimulus Message; Dow up 193 Pts

By Geoffrey Smith

Investing.com -- U.S. stock markets opened higher on Tuesday after the long weekend, supported by a reminder of the new administration’s commitment to reflating an economy still badly depressed by the Covid-19 pandemic.Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA)

The Senate Finance Committee is set to hold a confirmation hearing for Treasury Secretary designate Janet Yellen, who oversaw the recovery from the U.S. economy’s last big bust from the chair of the Federal Reserve.

In prepared comments published late on Tuesday, Yellen stressed the need to “act big” as regards fiscal stimulus, a reference to the $1.9 trillion spending plans outlined last week by the team of incoming President Joe Biden

By 9:35 AM ET (1435 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 193 points, or 0.6%, at 31.007 points. The S&P 500 was also up 0.8% and the Nasdaq Composite was up 1.1%. All three indices had had their worst week since October last week, hurt by weak retail sales data and record-high infections of Covid-19 that cast doubt on the strength of domestic demand.

Among individual movers, General Motors (NYSE:GM) stock hit a new record high after the company announced a $2 billion investment into its self-driving car initiative from a group of companies including Microsoft. Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) stock rose 0.8%, underperforming the Nasdaq.

Elsewhere, Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) stock fell 0.3%, despite reporting a blowout quarter marked by a 43% gain in trading income. The stock had performed strongly in anticipation of the numbers and had hit an all-time high last week. Other bank stocks also struggled to gain any momentum after their earnings, with Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) stock rising only 0.2%. State Street (NYSE:STT) stock fell 3.0% and Zions Bancorp (NASDAQ:ZION) stock fell 0.1%.

There was better news from the oil patch as oilfield services company Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) reported better-than-expected results, including free cash flow some 15% ahead of expectations. Chief Executive Officer Jeff Miller said he expects international activity to bottom in the first quarter of 2021 and said he's "optimistic" about momentum in North America, where the Baker Hughes rig count has clearly picked up in recent weeks.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) stock rose 1.7% after the electric automaker announced it has started delivering its Shanghai-made Model Y SUVs to customers in China.

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