US stocks closed Wednesday’s session higher with the Dow Jones Index rising more than 460 index points to reach another record high at the close following the passing of the stimulus bill.
The United States House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a $1.9 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill ahead of President Joe Biden signing the bill into law on Friday.
A total of 220 democrats voted in favor of the bill while 211 republicans voted against the legislation.
The bill includes a $1,400 check for every qualifying citizen, $300 per week in unemployment benefits until September 6, as well as provisions for states, education and healthcare.
US Stocks Major News
Oracle Earnings
Oracle Corporations on Wednesday reported its earnings with net income for the third quarter of fiscal 2021 jumping 95% year on year to $5 billion.
Total revenues rose by 3% to $10.1 billion as cloud services and license support revenues climbed 5% to $7.3 billion and cloud license and on-premise license revenues rose 4% to $1.3 billion.
Gamestop
Trading of GameStop shares was halted on Wednesday’s session after its shares rose by over 40% before sliding into the negative territory half an hour later and were halted again due to volatility.
The shares hit a high of $348.50 during Wednesday’s session, which is above its closing high reached on January 27 amid the first rally prompted by retail traders in an effort to create a short squeeze. The counter closed 2.14% higher to trade at $254.53.
Disney+ hits 100 million paid subscribers
The number of paid subscribers globally on The Walt Disney Company’s streaming platform Disney+ surpassed 100 million, CEO Bob Chapek revealed at the company’s annual shareholders meeting on Tuesday.
The streaming platform reached the milestone 16 months after it first launched in November 2019 in the United States, Canada and the Netherlands. The service has since expanded and is now available in regions including Australia, Latin America and the European Union.
Microsoft completes its biggest gaming purchase of $7.5B
Microsoft on Tuesday confirmed that it has completed the acquisition of ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Bethesda Softworks. Microsoft’s purchase amounted to $7.5 billion, the company’s biggest gaming acquisition yet, passing the last record of $2.5 billion in 2014.
Bitcoin
The price of Bitcoin rose above the $55,000 mark again on Wednesday in its sixth consecutive day of gains.
Bitcoin’s recent steady gains is attributed to its growing appeal to institutional and other notable investors. On Tuesday, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said he plans to convert all profits from the sale of his first-ever tweet to Bitcoin and donate it to charity.
