Shares of energy companies rose amid deal speculation.
Shares of Chevron rose after The Wall Street Journal reported that the chief executives of Exxon Mobil and Chevron spoke about combining the oil giants after the pandemic shook the world last year.
The companies explored a merger that would reunite the two largest descendants of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil monopoly and create the world's largest producer after Saudi Aramco.
The U.S. economy has a long way to go before it fully recovers and will need strong support from the Federal Reserve and the broader government to get there, said Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari, adding that he wasn't concerned about the wave of speculation on the stock market.
Write to Rob Curran at rob.curran@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
02-01-21 1702ET
