The prospect of Trump’s speedy recovery with the announcement that he would be returning to the White House today (which in fact happened at 6:37 p.m.), potential for the two parties to reach agreement on a stimulus bill, and the positive economic news of the services sector reaching and even exceeding pre-pandemic levels was more than enough to boost the Dow 465 points.  (I’m not sure how the new services data jives with the reality that so many small businesses, most of which are in the services sector, have gone bankrupt.) There remains considerable concern that Trump left the hospital too early as the doctors have been very clear that he is not at all out of the woods yet and they won’t have a better idea on that score until the end of this weekend.  Volume is below average at just under 8.5 billion. 

MON  OCTOBER 5, 2020  4:33 pm 

Wall Street gains as Trump to leave hospital, investors hope for stimulus

By Caroline Valetkevitch

DJ: 27,682.81  -134.09       NAS: 11,075.02  -251.49       S&P: 3,348.44  -32.36      10/2

DJ: 28,148.64  +465.83      NAS: 11.332.49  +257.47       S&P: 3,408.63  +60.19     10/5

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose sharply on Monday, recovering from declines in the previous session, as investors viewed more fiscal stimulus as likely and after news President Donald Trump will leave the hospital where he is being treated for COVID-19.  Trump said he felt “really good” and will leave Walter Reed National Military Medical Center at 6:30 p.m. (2230 GMT). Trump has been at the hospital since late Friday.

Shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc REGN.O jumped 7.1% after Trump's physician said he had been treated with Regeneron's experimental antibody treatment for the disease, which has killed more than a million people worldwide and wreaked economic havoc.  White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said on Monday there was still potential to reach an agreement with U.S. lawmakers on more coronavirus relief and that Trump was committed to getting the deal done.  “The stimulus deal is still sitting there, and there’s still communication going on ... It looks increasingly like something’s going to get done,” said Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at The Leuthold Group in Minneapolis.  Also, “any news that says the president is looking better is sort of news of less volatility, disruptions and unknowns, all of which scare investors,” he said.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 465.83 points, or 1.68%, to 28,148.64, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 60.16 points, or 1.80%, to 3,408.6 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 257.47 points, or 2.32%, to 11,332.49.

Doubts about the scale of further fiscal aid and a slowing economic recovery have weighed on the S&P 500 recently, with the benchmark index in September registering its worst month since the coronavirus-driven crash earlier this year.  Also helping the market on Monday was positive economic data.  After data last week showed an unexpected slowdown in the domestic manufacturing sector in September, figures on Monday showed activity in the broader services industry pulled above levels that prevailed before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 3.10-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 3.04-to-1 ratio favored advancers.  The S&P 500 posted 29 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 112 new highs and 16 new lows.

Volume on U.S. exchanges was 8.45 billion shares, compared with the 9.79 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.