Wall Street Close: Disney melt-up keeps Dow above 30K

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite Indices both closed Friday’s session with losses of 0.13% and 0.33%, though both had recovered from worst levels sub-3640 and sub-12250 respectively to trade back into the 3660s and upper 12300s respectively. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed with gains of just over 0.3% and held onto the 30K level amid a melt-up in Disney’s share price that saw DIS shares gain over 13.5%. The company announced that it had already amassed 86M subscribers, meaning that, only one year after launching, the service has already almost hit the company’s five-year subscriber target.

Stocks lifted from lows as Senate pushes government shutdown back at-least one week

Stocks were given a boost midway through the session on the news that the Senate had voted in favour of a one-week stopgap funding package that will keep the government funded until 18 December, a move designed to give Congress more time to negotiate the next full year's spending package and additional Covid-19 aid.

But there have been no signs yet that a deal on further Covid-19 aid is close; Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell signalled on Thursday that he opposed the $908B bipartisan coronavirus aid package in its current form given the $160B it contained in aid for states and city governments. Meanwhile, his proposal to the Democrats to pass a bill that excludes the contentious area on which they cannot yet agree (basically aid for states and city governments and business liability protections), a proposal that has been rejected by Senate Democrat Leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi.