The Dow Jones Industrial Average and other major stock market indices flipped green during late-morning trading on Thursday, erasing opening bell losses.
As of 11:39 am ET, the Dow was up 58.22 points or 0.24 percent to 23,937.34. Earlier in the day, the index had taken losses as steep as 176 points as concerns about earnings and the lingering partial government shutdown had made stocks grow heavy.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq also recovered from steep losses to briefly flash a green daily candle, though both indices continue to bounce back and forth across Wednesday’s close. At the time of writing, the S&P 500 was up 3.62 points or 0.14 percent, while the Nasdaq had climbed 8.37 points or 0.12 percent.
As noted by ZeroHedge, the recovery was accompanied buy a flurry of consistent buying activity, as the TICK index — which measures the ratio of stocks that are rising to falling on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) — did not see a negative tick for half an hour.
Meanwhile, fed up with negotiating with Democratic leadership, President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he will “probably ” declare a national emergency at the US-Mexico border, which the administration believes would allow him to build his desired border wall, even without congressional approval and funding.
“If [a deal with Congress] doesn’t work out, probably I will do it. I would almost say definitely,” Trump said just prior to leaving Washington to visit the southern border in Texas.
If Trump declared a national emergency to fund the construction of the border wall, there would seemingly be nothing left to stop him from striking a deal to end the partial government shutdown, which is now in its 20th day. Federal workers impacted by the shutdown are just one day away from reaching their first full paycheck, making Thursday a key checkpoint.
However, Trump’s national emergency declaration would be certain to face a swift challenge in the courts.
All three major US stock market indices have all closed in positive territory for four consecutive days, their longest winning streak in months. If today’s mid-session Dow recovery can hold — and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq can sustain a stronger push to the upside — the market could extend that streak to five.
Featured Image from Shutterstock. Price Charts from TradingView .