Stocks rose on Wednesday, boosted by news of a coronavirus vaccine deal between the U.S. government and Pfizer and BioNTech and apparent progress on U.S. stimulus negotiations. 

The Dow gained 165.44 points, or 0.6%, to close at 27,005.84. It was the Dow’s third straight gain. The S&P 500 rose 0.6% to 3,276.84, posting a four-day winning streak, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.2% to 10,706.13. The S&P 500 also traded at its highest level in five months. 

The U.S. agreed to pay Pfizer and German-partner BioNTech $1.95 billion to produce 100 million coronavirus vaccines if it proves to be safe and effective. 

The Department of Health and Human Services added the U.S. can acquire an additional 500 million doses of the drug under the agreement.  

Pfizer rose more than 5%. BioNTech’s U.S.-listed shares gained 13.7%.

Stocks got a boost in the final hour after sources told CNBC that Republicans are considering extending current unemployment benefits at $400 per month through December. That would be lower than the current unemployment benefits of $600 per week.

Banks were under pressure, giving back solid gains from the previous session. JPMorgan Chase dipped 0.72%. Bank of America fell 0.45%. Citigroup dropped 0.14%.

AT&T, Twitter and American Airlines are set to report earnings Thursday. Weekly jobless claims numbers are also set for release.

Plan B : Short if market failed to support above 3266.50. Targets are 3238.25, 3215.75 and 3200.50.

Futures contracts tied to the major U.S. stock indexes held steady during the overnight session as investors parsed through a slew of corporate earnings during an otherwise positive week.

Dow fell 3 points, implying a marginal opening loss when regular trading resumes on Thursday. S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures were both little changed from the previous session.

Wall Street’s attention in after-hours trading Wednesday evening was focused on earnings announcements from several U.S. companies, but especially Microsoft and carmaker Tesla.

Despite better-than-expected figures, software giant Microsoft shares fell as much as 3% in after-hours trading. Though the company’s results were largely positive, Microsoft said its transactional license purchasing continued to slow and that subsidiary LinkedIn was negatively impacted by the weak job market.

Tesla, meanwhile, blew past analyst expectations and posted its fourth consecutive quarter of profit, opening the door for the company’s inclusion in the S&P 500. Excluding one-time charges, Tesla’s second-quarter earnings per share of $2.18 were well above the 3 cents per share expected by analysts polled by Refinitiv.

On Thursday, the Labor Department will release its latest report on weekly jobless claims. The weekly figures provide Wall Street with critical insight on how many Americans continue to collect unemployment benefits, known as continuing claims.

Another 1.3 million workers are expected to have filed first-time claims for state unemployment benefits during the week ended July 18.

Plan A : Long if market doesn't retrace much and supported firm above 10860.25. Targets are 10890.25, 10918.50 and 10950.25.

Plan B : Short if market failed to support above 10860.25. Targets are 10815.25, 10785.25 and 10748.25.

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Plan A : Remain buy as long as oil price trades firmly above 41.6

Plan B : Exit below 40.7

Plan C : Consider selling if oil price surges but fails to breach above 42.0