Dow Cuts Gains as Jostling on Capitol Hill Threatens Stimulus Delay By Investing.com

By Yasin Ebrahim 

Investing.com – The Dow notched its first back-to-back wins for the first time in more than two months, despite giving up lots of its gains in late selling Wednesday as lawmakers tussled on Capitol Hill over the U.S. $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package, denting hopes of a speedy rollout.

The rose 2.39%, or 495 points, marking its second-straight session of gains for the first time since Feb. 5-6. The Dow had been up more than 1,000 points intraday. The rose 1.15 %, but the fell 0.45%.

Events of Capitol Hill continued to dominate direction as ongoing disagreements over the provisions included in the stimulus package threatens fast-track voting.

Three Republican U.S. Senators, Tim Scott, Lindsey Graham and Ben Sasse said in a joint statement that legislative language included in the bill encouraged layoffs and would need fixes, Reuters reported.

But Sen. Bernie Sanders reportedly has threatened to hold up the vote on the bill and demand new restrictions on companies receiving bailouts unless the three Republican Senators drop their objections to unemployment insurance expansions, Jeffrey Stein at the Washington Post reported.

Companies that take a loan through the stimulus package, however, will be restricted from buying back their stock until one year after the loan is repaid and also will not be allowed to pay any dividends if their loan is outstanding, CNBC reported.

The rally on Wall Street was led by a standout performance from Boeing (NYSE:), up 24%, as investors anticipate virus-hit sectors like aviation will be rescued by the government.

Energy, meanwhile, was also in demand, driven by a 2% rise in oil prices as U.S. stimulus hopes have helped to offset concerns about falling demand amid the outbreak.