The S&P 500 rose 11.90 points, or 0.4%, to 3,306.51 after flipping between small gains and losses throughout the day. It’s the mildest move for the index in two weeks.
On the winning end was Take-Two Interactive Software, which rose 5.9%. The video-game maker reported a profit for the spring that was almost double year-ago levels as customers stuck at home played “Grand Theft Auto” and other games instead of going outside. A weekly $600 in federal unemployment benefits has expired, threatening to crunch the finances of millions of out-of-work Americans. Recent data reports have shown an uptick in the number of workers filing for unemployment benefits after a resurgence of coronavirus counts pushed some states to reimpose restrictions on businesses. Economists expect a report on Friday to show that U.S. employers added 1.8 million jobs last month, which would be welcome growth but also a slowdown from June.