U.S. stocks traded higher on Friday as investors awaited the outcome of a vote on a healthcare bill that is seen as a test of President Donald Trump’s ability to pass his legislative agenda through Congress.
Republican lawmakers struggled to overcome differences over the bill after Trump walked away from negotiations, telling them to pass the bill on Friday or keep Obamacare in place.
The back-and-forth over the bill has led to some of the choppiest trading Wall Street has seen since Trump’s election in November.
Investors had worried that a failure of the legislation would damage prospects for Trump’s pro-growth agenda, including tax reform and stimulus. Earlier this week, U.S. stocks posted their biggest daily drop since the election on these concerns.
Some of that concern appeared to be ebbing on Friday avestors seeing a failure of the bill as a catalyst to bring forward action on tax reform in particular.
Trump warned lawmakers late Thursday that he was prhead of the scheduled vote in the House, with some analysts and inepared to do just that: move on.
“I think at this point it’s really a ‘put-up or shut-up’ moment for the Trump administration and what he’s done is pretty bold,” said Brad McMillan, chief investment officer at Commonwealth Financial Network.
“This is a kind of decision that the market wants to see Trump make and they’re giving him the benefit of the doubt on it. One way or the other it clears the deck for tax reform. Trump may very well loose the battle but win the war.”
The S&P has risen about 10 percent since Trump’s election as U.S. president on Nov. 8.
At 10:50 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 39.67 points, or 0.19 percent, at 20,696.25, the S&P 500 was up 7.28 points, or 0.31 percent, at 2,353.24.
The Nasdaq Composite was up 33.52 points, or 0.58 percent, at 5,851.22.
Seven of the 11 major S&P sectors were higher, with the technology index’s 0.50 percent rise leading the gainers.
Micron Technology jumped 9.9 percent to $29.10, a day after the chipmaker’s current-quarter revenue and profit forecasts beat expectations. The stock was the biggest boost to the S&P and the Nasdaq.
Data on Friday showed new orders for key U.S.-made capital goods unexpectedly fell in February, but shipments surged.
