US close: Wall Street turns in strongest session in weeks as Trump prepares to leave hospital

(Sharecast News) - Wall Street stocks had their strongest session in weeks on Monday as market participants continued to track both stimulus talks and the health of the President.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.68% at 28,148.64, while the S&P 500 was 1.80% firmer at 3,408.63 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 2.32% stronger at 11,332.49.

The Dow closed 465.83 points higher on Monday, reversing losses recorded on Friday after Donald Trump and the First Lady tested positive for the coronavirus.

Stimulus talks were in focus over the weekend and at the open after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Friday that Republicans and Democrats were working "on the text" to move "quickly" to facilitate an agreement.

Presumably tweeting from his bed at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Trump pressured Congress to pass a deal on Saturday, demanding that lawmakers "WORK TOGETHER AND GET IT DONE".

Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spoke for an hour on Monday regarding another stimulus package but again failed to reach an agreement.

As far as Trump's health was concerned, the President said he would be leaving Walter Reed on Monday evening, but White House physician Dr Sean Conley cautioned that he "may not be out of the woods yet".

Following the diagnosis, former Vice President Joe Biden opened his widest lead in the presidential campaign in a month, with 51% of those polled backing him and 41% saying they would vote for Trump.

On the macro front, the final IHS Markit US services PMI came in at 54.3, slightly below an initial reading of 54.4, while the Institute for Supply Management's services index rose to 57.8% in September, up from 56.9% in the prior month.

In the corporate space, pharmaceutical giant Bristol-Meyers Squibb agreed to acquire Californian drugmaker MyoKardia in a $13.1bn deal, while shares in trade bellwether Caterpillar closed 2.37% higher.