S&P 500 rose on Thursday. What about Nasdaq and Dow Jones?

 Dow Jones futures increased modestly earlier on Thursday, along with Nasdaq futures and S&P 500 futures. The stock market had a mixed but overall positive session on Wednesday as talking about stimulus deal, and a Fed meeting boosted the optimistic sentiment. The Nasdaq rallied to a record high, and several leading stocks entered buy range.

Roku (ROKU) soared considerably while Synopsys (SNPS), Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG), and Shopify stock also broke out past buy points Wednesday. Apple (AAPL) remained in its buy range, while Microsoft (MSFT) and Amazon.com (AMZN) cleared early entries.

Roku surged forward due to HBO Max deal on Thursday. AT&T (T) unit WarnerMedia made a deal for Roku to carry HBO Max on its platform, almost seven months after the streaming service’s launch. As a result, HBO Max will be live on Roku starting on Thursday.

Roku stock jumped by 6.5%, signalling a new high. The streaming company has been able to hold out for a big part of the revenue from apps joining its platform. The stock has rallied since the Covid-19 crash.

According to reports, the U.S. government works on new stimulus deal. That helped to boost the major indexes at the open, despite weak November retail sales. The $900 billion stimulus deal may include direct checks to Americans. However, it may not include the decisive issues of state and a liability shield for businesses or local government aid.

On Wednesday, the Fed meeting ended with policymakers reiterating pledges to continue bond-buying with a goal of exceeding 2% inflation for some time. However, the central bank still resisted calls for easier money.

What does Fed chief Jerome Powell think?

Fed chief Jerome Powell stated that the central bank could do more, but he also announced that the case for fiscal policy is very strong, thus signalling his strong support for an additional stimulus deal.

He also noted that the economy should grow fast after next June when Covid-19 vaccine immunizations reach most Americans. Meanwhile, fiscal stimulus could help over the next three to four months.

On Thursday, the Dow Jones futures surged forward by 0.4% versus fair value. S&P 500 futures also soared by 0.5% and Nasdaq 100 futures gained 0.45%.

Coronavirus cases reached 74.66 million worldwide, while deaths surpassed 1.65 million. On Wednesday, the FDA stated that extra doses of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine in many vials could be used. That potentially increases the number of doses by up to 40%.

Meanwhile, the Moderna vaccine faces an FDA advisory panel on Thursday. The company expects a positive recommendation, along with FDA emergency use approval.