Nasdaq, S&P rise 1% driving day two of stock gains

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Advisor Group chief market strategist Phil Blancato and Chris Verrone of Strategas react to increased market volatility on ‘Making Money.’

U.S. stocks rose for the second straight session as traders digested positive economic news and the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of Pfizer’s COVID-19 pill for use in adults and children ages 12 and older.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
I:DJI	DOW JONES AVERAGES	35753.89	+261.19	+0.74%
SP500	S&P 500	4696.56	+47.33	+1.02%
I:COMP	NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX	15521.89237	+180.81	+1.18%

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 261 points or 0.6% building on its 560 point advance on Tuesday while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rose 1% each.

Positive economic data included an uptick in the Consumer Confidence Index to the best level since July, a better than expected 3Q GDP report of 2.3%, albeit well below July’s 6.7% jump and home sales that rose 1.9%.

And the fight against COVID-19 also helped sentiment after the FDA said an oral pill to treat the virus is a game-changer.

“Today’s authorization introduces the first treatment for COVID-19 that is in the form of a pill that is taken orally — a major step forward in the fight against this global pandemic,” said Patrizia Cavazzoni, M.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research in a statement. Merck is also waiting on the FDA for its oral treatment.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
PFE	PFIZER INC.	59.55	+0.60	+1.02%
MRK	MERCK & CO. INC.	76.15	+0.60	+0.79%

Other vaccine makers remained active among investors as rising cases of COVID-19 get reported and as Americans seek booster shots.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
MRNA	MODERNA INC.	251.36	-16.78	-6.26%
PFE	PFIZER INC.	59.55	+0.60	+1.02%
BNTX	BIONTECH SE	259.70	-11.76	-4.33%

Tesla shares rose after CEO Elon Musk signaled his year-end stock selling spree is over, for now, according to an interview he gave to the Babylon Bee.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
TSLA	TESLA INC.	1,008.87	+70.34	+7.49%

Caterpillar was among the Dow’s top stocks after Bernstein upgraded the shares to an outperform forecasting a $240 price target. Deere slipped.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
CAT	CATERPILLAR INC.	202.15	+3.84	+1.94%
DE	DEERE & CO.	347.00	-2.81	-0.80%

Amazon shares also rose despite another morning outage of AWS – its cloud service which knocked multiple workplaces offline.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
AMZN	AMAZON.COM INC.	3,420.74	+12.40	+0.36%

In earnings, BlackBerry shares reversed earlier losses to close with a gain after it reported better than expected quarterly results. Through Tuesday, the shares have gained 39%.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
BB	BLACKBERRY LTD.	9.40	+0.15	+1.62%

Apparel maker Naked Brand is active as it began trading post a 1-for-15 split-adjusted basis.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
NAKD	NAKED BRAND GROUP	6.25	-0.98	-13.52%

US PENDING HOME SALES UNEXPECTEDLY FALL IN SEPTEMBER

In commodities, oil closed higher at $72.76 per barrel level with an unexpected 4.7 million barrel drop in weekly inventories as reported by the EIA.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
USO	UNITED STATES OIL FUND L.P.	52.48	+0.91	+1.76%

MAERSK STRIKES DEAL TO BUY LF LOGISTICS FOR $3.6 BLN

In global deals, AP Moeller-Maersk AS said it has agreed to buy LF Logistics Holdings Ltd. in an all-cash deal. The Danish shipping company said it would acquire 100% of the private, Asia-Pacific-based logistics company for an enterprise value of $3.6 billion.

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FOX Business’ Ken Martin and The Associated Press contributed to this report.