US stocks head north in afternoon deals

2pm EST: US stocks higher The Dow Jones Industrial Average added over 320 points at 28,966. The S&P 500 surged over 41  at 3, 567, while the Nasdaq gained over 80 points to stand at 12,020. Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) was once again in the frame as shares plunged over 7% to US$441.06  after the tech titan revealed that one of its largest shareholders, Scotland-based Baillie Gifford & Co, had reduced its stake to 39.63 million shares, or 4.25% after a sale, although the value of its stake actually increased. The stock has now declined 14% since it closed at a record US$498.32 on Monday this week, when its 5-for-1 stock split took effect. As of June 30, Baillie’s Tesla stake was valued at about $12.7 billion. As of Tuesday’s closing price, which was 120% above the June 30 closing price of $215.96, the value of the decreased stake increased by 48% to $18.8 billion 12pm EST/5.05pm: FTSE closes ahead FTSE 100 finished on Wednesday firmly higher but still below 6,000 as big house builders took the top spots after Barratt Developments PLC (LON:BDEV) put out its full year results. The blue-chip benchmark closed ahead by over 78 points, or 1.34%, at 5,940. "Broadly speaking, European indices lost ground in the past two days, and today those losses have been mostly recovered," said analyst David Madden in a note. "The mood on this side of the Atlantic is still optimistic in relation to the US coronavirus stimulus package, even though there are ‘serious differences’ between what the two sides want. Steven Mnuchin, the US Treasury Secretary, said that a ‘bipartisan agreement still should be reached’. Top riser on Footsie was developer Barratt Developments PLC, which  saw its shares jump 8.58% to 546.80p  after it posted a £491.8mln profit before tax for the year to end-June, 2020, down from £910mln the year before. But the firm noted it had seen a 62% increase in home completion volumes in the eight weeks to August 23, put down to a combination of pent-up demand, the Stamp Duty holiday “and an understanding that Help to Buy will only be available to first-time buyers and regional home price caps will exist from April 2021”. Taylor Wimpey (LON:TW.) was the second biggest gainer on the FTSE 100, up 7.14% to 126.05p. The whole sector was buoyed as Nationwide reported a 2% rise in August house prices - the biggest gain in 16 years. US and Canada 11.15am EST/ 4.15pm Wall Street benchmarks were mixed in early deals in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added over 22o points at 28,866, while the S&P500 gained around 22 at 3,548. The tech-laden Nasdaq exchange though, shed 6.7 points at 11,932. In Toronto, the TSX was up nearly 58 points, at 16,702. 10.30am EST/3.30pm: Proactive North America headlines: Genprex (NASDAQ:GNPX) appoints Dr William Gannon as the company’s vice president of Regulatory Affairs Lucky Minerals Inc (CVE:LKY) (OTCMKTS:LKMNF) expands recently discovered El Garo target on its Fortuna project in Ecuador Revive Therapeutics Ltd (CSE:RVV) (OTCMKTS:RVVTF)  set to collaborate with University of Wisconsin System on Psilocybin clinical trial KULR Technology Group Inc (OTCQB:KULR) helping establish updated industry safety standards for lithium battery packaging for shipping Ipsidy Inc (OTCQB:IDTY) partners with LoginID to develop new tools to fight online fraud PreveCeutical Medical Inc (CSE:PREV) (OTCQB:PRVCF) hits milestone in opioid substitute pain-reliever BetterLife Pharma Inc  (CSE:BETR) (OTCQB:BETRF) (FRA:NPAT) says key scientific advisor will retain role following appointment to Canadian coronavirus task force Essex Minerals Inc (CVE: ESX) hits high-grade gold and silver with first drill hole at Queensland project Benchmark Metals (CVE:BNCH) (OTCQB:CYRTF) encouraged by early drill results from Cliff Creek zone at Lawyers project, which underscore mining potential 1933 Industries Inc (CSE:TGIF) (OTCQX:TGIFF) appoints CEO Paul Rosen to board of directors 9.40am: Wall Street starts positively The main Wall Street indices still managed to begin Wednesday’s session in the green despite August’s ADP jobs report falling well short of market expectations. Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.38% to 28,755, while the S&P 500 rose 0.4% to 3,540 and the Nasdaq climbed 0.59% to 12,010. The ADP report showed that the US economy added 428,000 private sector jobs in August, well below the 950,000 predicted by analysts, however this was a marked increase from the 212,000 figure for July. Instead, markets seem to have looked elsewhere for positivity, particularly reports that US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has restarted talks with House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi on a fresh round of stimulus measures. Also potentially lifting markets were comments by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Anthony Fauci, who said a vaccine for coronavirus could come sooner than expected if the multiple firms working on such a product delivered outstanding preliminary results from trials. 7.49am: Wall Street to kick off on the front foot Wall Street is expected to start open higher on Wednesday, a day after tech behemoth Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) overtook the entire value of the UK’s FTSE 100 blue-chip index, having hit US$2.2 trillion of market capitalization. According to the spread-betters, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is expected to open up 172 points at 28,816, while the S&P 500 is predicted to climb 24 points to 3,551 with the Nasdaq starting 120 points higher at 12,433. All eyes are likely to be on the ADP private sector employment report ahead of Thursday’s weekly claims count and Friday’s main nonfarm payrolls print. Jack Daniels producer Brown-Forman Corporation (NYSE:BF.B) is also going to be in focus with its first quarter release. In June it posted a 5% fall in fourth-quarter revenue to US$709mln due to the pandemic, with analysts wondering whether easier restrictions globally have helped summer trading. Five things to watch for on Wednesday: The ADP private sector jobs report for August will be the key piece of macro news ahead of Friday’s non-farm payrolls, with the data expected to show the US economy added 950,000 jobs during the month, a sharp increase on the 167,000 created in July US factory orders for July will also provide some macroeconomic clarity, with growth of 6% expected for the month, down slightly from 6.2% in June’s report Macro observers will also be keeping an eye on the Fed’s beige book for insight into the US business environment Share price reaction from department store chain Macy’s Inc (NYSE:M) after the group reported a narrower than expected loss for its second quarter as its sales beat market expectations Political developments following reports that US treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin is meeting with US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to urgently discuss new stimulus measures