Stocks higher as oil bounces back and senate approves stimulus bill

Stocks finished higher for the first time in 3 days.

Today’s rally came after a bounce in Crude Oil (CL) and optimism over yesterday’s Senate stimulus bill.

Yesterday, the Senate approved another $484 billion for small business aid funding. The package included  funds for coronavirus testing and hospital support. The House is expected to vote as soon as Thursday, and President Trump is expected to sign the bill.

Stocks were higher at the open then chopped around.

There was a push to session highs right before lunch, then another rally in the afternoon.

Here’s where the major indices ended the day:

• The S&P finished with a 2.3% gain. Up 63 points, the S&P ended at 2,799.
• The DOW ended 2.0% higher. Adding 457 points the DOW closed at 23,476.
• The NASDAQ was up 2.8%. With a 230 point gain, the NASDAQ finished at 8,495.

Crude Oil (CL) finished higher for the 1st time in 9 trading days. With a 19.3% gain, Crude Oil ended at $13.80 a barrel.

A tweet from President Trump helped oil’s bounce today. Trump tweeted “I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea.”

Energy stocks rose on Crude Oil’s rally.

Halliburton (HAL) finished higher by 10.3%, Exxon Mobil (XOM) was up 2.9% and Chevron (CVX) rallied 3.4%.

Better than expected earnings helped today’s mood.

Chipotle (CMG) reported better than expected profits and jumped 12.2%. And Snap (SNAP) rallied 36.7% after Q1 results.

Speaking of earnings, according to data from Refinitiv, 84 S&P 500 companies have reported earnings. of these companies, 67% have reported better than expected profits. But earnings are still expected to drop 13.7% year-over-year.

Looking at the earnings calendar, here are a few of the bigger names reporting tomorrow: Domino’s Pizza (DPZ), Crocs Inc. (CROX), Union Pacific (UP), Eli Lilly (LLY), and Dow Chemical (DOW).