Mar 26, 2020 - Economy

Stocks surge despite record-breaking unemployment claims

Axios

Wall Street sign — Photo: Luiz Roberto Lima-ANB/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images

U.S. stocks shrugged off news of a record-breaking 3.3 million unemployment claims last week, closing higher for the third straight day as Congress moved closer to passing a $2 trillion coronavirus relief package.

Driving the news: Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that she expects the House to pass the Senate's rescue bill — the largest of its kind in U.S. history — on Friday, before moving on to a potential "Phase 4" package.

"The bill that was passed in the Senate last night and that we will take up tomorrow is about mitigation,” Pelosi said. “There’s so many things we didn’t get in any of these bills yet in the way that we need to."
The Senate package includes thousands of dollars in direct payments to most Americans, a $500 billion loan fund for large corporations and a $367 billion loan program for small businesses. (More details)

By the numbers:

S&P 500: +5.6%
Nasdaq: +6.1%
Dow Jones Industrial Average: +1,322 points, or +6.2%

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Stocks surge despite record-breaking unemployment claims

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