S&P 500 flirts with record high

The S&P 500 came close to hitting a record high Monday but fell 4 points shy of its February peak.

The index closed at 3,382, up 0.3 percent for the day. During midday trading, it briefly surpassed its best closing level.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, fell 0.3 percent.

The uneven performance comes as Senate Majority Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) raised doubts about whether Congress and the White House will strike a deal on another coronavirus relief package after negotiations stalled between Democrats and Trump administration officials.

“We do need another bill and I’m hoping that this impasse will end soon. … [But] I can’t tell you yet here today whether there’s going to be additional relief for health care providers,” McConnell said at an event in Kentucky.

Negotiations on a new bill to extend and expand certain measures that expired on July 31 fell apart earlier this month. Democrats and Republicans remain trillions of dollars apart in their offerings.

Without new legislation, the economy will have to move ahead without expanded unemployment benefits, an evictions moratorium, a small business loan program, state and local aid, and other economic supports.

President Trump, who has recently been touting the stock market’s performance, took executive action to address some of those issues, but economists argue a more comprehensive legislative response is needed.