US stocks hit record; House to assemble for relief bill

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - US stocks reached record highs shortly after opening Tuesday, with investors encouraged that lawmakers release the final version of President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion relief bill next week.

The Dow Jones and the S&P 500 climbed to 31,599 and 3,949 points, respectively. The Nasdaq also soared to a new high of 14,175.

ExxonMobil and Chevron each saw shares shoot up more than 3% as crude oil prices were on a rally with positivity surrounding the global economic recovery and crude shortages in the state of Texas due to bad weather.

The House of Representatives' Budget Committee is expected to assemble a final bill in the next ten days based on measures approved by at least nine committees.

The bill is already long overdue in the early weeks of Biden's tenure in the White House and is expected to be approved by the Democrat-led House. But it will be a close call in the Senate with a 50-50 split where Vice President Kamala Harris could provide a tie-breaking vote.

Two Democrats in the Senate, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Joe Manchin of West Virginia, have already voiced opposition to a portion of the plan -- raising the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour.