US STOCKS-Wall Street ends choppy session higher as strength in banks offsets virus woes

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By Sinéad Carew
New York, June 25 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes
closed higher in choppy trading on Thursday, with bank stocks
soaring ahead of annual stress test results and helping to
offset investor jitters over alarming increases in new
coronavirus cases.
The recently battered S&P 500 banks sub-index .SPXBK led
the gainers for the session after U.S. banking regulators eased
rules and investors waited for results of the sector's annual
stress test, which helps determine dividend policies.
The bank index had fallen 19 percent from its recent high on
June 5 to Wednesday's lowest point. It rose as much as 3.75% on
Thursday.
But investors remained nervous throughout the day as the
number of new virus cases in U.S. states grew, especially in the
West and South.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said he was halting his state's
phased economic reopening in response to a jump in COVID-19
infections and hospitalizations. And stocks wobbled temporarily late in the session after
Apple Inc AAPL.O said it would close 14 stores in Florida
again because of rising COVID-19 cases after other re-closures
in Houston, Arizona, South Carolina, and North Carolina.
A flare-up in virus cases in recent days has taken some wind
out of a Wall Street rally powered by hopes of a quick economic
recovery and massive government stimulus efforts.
After coming within 4.5% of its record high on June 8, the
benchmark S&P 500 has lost ground.
While bank stocks appeared to provide the biggest boost on
Thursday, Michael James, managing director of equity trading at
Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles, said investors were broadly
buying the dip after Wednesday's pullback in stocks.
"None of those issues that caused yesterday's weakness were
really resolved today," said James. "You could argue that the
market could be a fair amount lower. The reason we're not is
there is still some understanding that things are going to have
a brighter ending at some point."
Unofficially, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose
298.77 points, or 1.17%, to 25,744.71, the S&P 500 .SPX gained
33.34 points, or 1.09%, to 3,083.67 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC added 107.84 points, or 1.09%, to 10,017.00.
All the three major indexes had opened Thursday's session
lower after data showed the number of Americans filing claims
for unemployment benefits fell less than expected last week,
likely as hiring by reopening businesses is being partly offset
by a second wave of layoffs. But the S&P's financial sector .SPSY gave the benchmark
its biggest boost after regulators unveiled two rules easing
restrictions covering large banks with complex trading and
investment portfolios.
The Federal Reserve will release results of annual bank
stress tests after the markets close, potentially indicating how
much flexibility they will have to return capital to
shareholders.
"The risk-reward bias favors a more positive bias into the
results this evening because the sector has been such a
laggard," said Wedbush's James.
Walt Disney Co DIS.N fell for the second day in a row
after it delayed the reopening of theme parks due to the health
crisis. A report also said it was considering postponing the
July 24 release of "Mulan." Boeing Co BA.N tumbled as rival Airbus AIR.PA reached a
crucial jetliner production target and smoothed recent
industrial problems.