Tech Companies Look Up in US

Washington: Amid COVID blues, there is some good news. Technology stocks on Wall Street looked up Monday as lawmakers in the United States began to discuss another coronavirus aid package.

In a surge, the S&P 500 rose almost 1 percent to enter into positive territory for 2020. While Amazon jumped nearly 8 percent, Citrix Systems, Microsoft and Adobe were among the best-performing stocks in the S&P 500.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite rose 2.5 percent.

Lawmakers have returned to Washington to discuss the fourth bailout package, which is expected to be massive, since the virus wiped out large chunks of the US economy earlier this year.

The House, controlled by Democrats, wants $3 trillion in aid, while the Republican-controlled Senate appears to want something around $1 trillion.

Not just tech stocks; energy stocks also climbed after Chevron announced acquisition of Noble Energy, a Houston-based oil and gas explorer for $5 billion.

This isn’t the first time this year that Wall Street has clawed its way back into positive territory. It did so in June, before the coronavirus pandemic began to spike again in parts of the United States and other countries, sending shares lower again.

Companies are expected to release their results for the three months through June. Earnings reports are expected from Microsoft, Chipotle, Hershey and United Airlines, among  others.