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| - Wall Street stocks opened higher Thursday despite fresh layoff announcements from airlines and insurer Allstate as investors monitored stimulus talks in Washington. About 10 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial was at 28,025.58, up 0.9 percent. The broad-based S&P 500 gained 1.0 percent to 3,395.74, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 1.3 percent to 11,306.74. Conciliatory remarks this week from Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have revived hopes for a stimulus deal to boost the pandemic-hit US economy. That boosted stocks again early Thursday, even though sealing a deal still looked challenging in light of criticism of spending measures from Senate Republicans. "There likely remains a wide gap between Democrats and Republicans regarding the size and scope of a coronavirus relief and fiscal stimulus package," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at National Securities, adding that the latest comments from Mnuchin and Pelosi "represented marginal progress nonetheless." The House of Representatives is expected to leave Washington this weekend. New jobless claim filings in the United States fell to 837,000 last week, the Labor Department said, resuming their downward trajectory but remaining at an historically high level. American Airlines announced it would begin furloughing 19,000 workers and United Airlines would do the same for 13,000 workers as stimulus talks drag on. That dreary news was accompanied by an announcement from Allstate that it will eliminate 3,800 jobs in a cost-cutting move. jmb/dw
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