NEW YORK: Wall Street's main indexes rose to a one-month high on Thursday as US President Donald Trump signaled progress in negotiations around new fiscal stimulus, while data showed a recovery in the labor market struggled to gain momentum.
All the 11 major S&P indexes were up, with the energy sector tracking a jump in oil prices. Still, gains were largely led by the real estate and utilities sectors - both considered defensive plays. US Treasury prices also edged higher, suggesting a cautious mood across financial markets.
By 11:15 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.40%, the S&P 500 was up 0.68% and the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.60%. In company news, Coty Inc jumped 9.9% after the cosmetics maker announced the launch of direct-to-consumer websites for Kylie Skin brand in the UK, France, Germany and Australia.
International Business Machines Corp rose 6.8% after saying it was splitting itself into two public companies, capping its years-long effort to diversify away from its legacy businesses to focus on high-margin cloud computing.