U.S. stocks opened higher on Thursday, buoyed by energy stocks as oil prices rose on output shutdowns in the Gulf of Mexico due to Hurricane Delta.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 100.61 points to commence Thursday's session at 28,404.07, a day after the Dow's biggest one-day gain since mid-July.
The S&P 500 gained 20.06 points to 3,439.51.
The NASDAQ took on 47.34 points to 11,411.93.
Shares of United, American and Delta airlines were all up more than 1%. Amazon advanced more than 1% and Facebook gained 0.7%.
President Donald Trump said Thursday morning that the administration and Democrats were “starting to have some very productive talks.”
His comments came after he urged lawmakers to push through coronavirus aid for airlines, sparking a massive market rally on Wednesday.
Investors also digested the latest U.S. weekly jobless claims data, which showed an additional 840,000 Americans filed for unemployment benefits for the first time. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected first-time claims for unemployment insurance to total 825,000 for the week ending Oct. 3.
All of the major averages are higher for October, clawing back some of September's losses, which was the first negative month since March.
Still, a host of risks remain in the market, including rising Covid-19 cases
Prices for the 10-Year Treasury moved higher, lowering yields to 0.77% from Wednesday's 0.79%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices advanced $1.03 to $40.98 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices brightened $2.70 to $1,893.50 U.S. an ounce.