Nasdaq, S&P rise 1% driving day two of stock gains

U.S. stocks rose for the second straight session as traders digested positive economic news and the Food and Drug Administration's approval of  Pfizer's COVID-19 pill for use in adults and children ages 12 and older. 

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
I:DJI	DOW JONES AVERAGES	44782	-128.65	-0.29%
SP500	S&P 500	6047.15	+14.77	+0.24%
I:COMP	NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX	19403.947849	+185.78	+0.97%

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 261 points or 0.6% building on its 560 point advance on Tuesday while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rose 1% each. 

Positive economic data included an uptick in the Consumer Confidence Index to the best level since July, a better than expected 3Q GDP report of 2.3%, albeit well below July's 6.7% jump and home sales that rose 1.9%. 

And the fight against COVID-19 also helped sentiment after the FDA said an oral pill to treat the virus is a game-changer. 

"Today’s authorization introduces the first treatment for COVID-19 that is in the form of a pill that is taken orally — a major step forward in the fight against this global pandemic," said Patrizia Cavazzoni, M.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research in a statement. Merck is also waiting on the FDA for its oral treatment. 

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
PFE	PFIZER INC.	26.21	+0.38	+1.47%
MRK	MERCK & CO. INC.	101.64	-1.48	-1.44%

Other vaccine makers remained active among investors as rising cases of COVID-19 get reported and as Americans seek booster shots.  

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
MRNA	MODERNA INC.	44.26	+1.20	+2.79%
PFE	PFIZER INC.	25.82	-0.39	-1.49%
BNTX	BIONTECH SE	117.20	-1.19	-1.01%

Tesla shares rose after CEO Elon Musk signaled his year-end stock selling spree is over, for now, according to an interview he gave to the Babylon Bee. 

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
TSLA	TESLA INC.	357.09	+11.93	+3.46%

Caterpillar was among the Dow's top stocks after Bernstein upgraded the shares to an outperform forecasting a $240 price target. Deere slipped. 

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
CAT	CATERPILLAR INC.	403.70	-4.12	-1.01%
DE	DEERE & CO.	466.08	+5.01	+1.09%

Amazon shares also rose despite another morning outage of AWS - its cloud service which knocked multiple workplaces offline. 

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
AMZN	AMAZON.COM INC.	207.89	+2.15	+1.05%

In earnings, BlackBerry shares reversed earlier losses to close with a gain after it reported better than expected quarterly results. Through Tuesday, the shares have gained 39%.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
BB	BLACKBERRY LTD.	2.56	-0.01	-0.39%

Apparel maker Naked Brand is active as it began trading post a 1-for-15 split-adjusted basis.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
NAKD	NO DATA AVAILABLE	-	-	-

US PENDING HOME SALES UNEXPECTEDLY FALL IN SEPTEMBER

In commodities, oil closed higher at $72.76 per barrel level with an unexpected 4.7 million barrel drop in weekly inventories as reported by the EIA. 

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
USO	UNITED STATES OIL FUND - USD ACC	71.75	+0.12	+0.17%

MAERSK STRIKES DEAL TO BUY LF LOGISTICS FOR $3.6 BLN

In global deals, AP Moeller-Maersk AS said it has agreed to buy LF Logistics Holdings Ltd. in an all-cash deal. The Danish shipping company said it would acquire 100% of the private, Asia-Pacific-based logistics company for an enterprise value of $3.6 billion.

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FOX Business' Ken Martin and The Associated Press contributed to this report.