U.S. stock indexes were higher Thursday afternoon, but off the session’s best levels which saw new intraday record highs, after President Donald Trump tweeted that the U.S. is “getting very close to a big deal with China,” signaling that tariffs set to go into effect Sunday may be avoided.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.78% was 134 points, 0.5%, higher, at 28,045, at midday, while the S&P 500 index SPX, +0.72% gained about 18 points, or 0.6% to 3,160, and the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.53% added 36 points, or 0.4%, to 8,690.
All three main stock benchmarks touched intraday highs Thursday morning.
On Wednesday, the Dow rose 29.58 points, 0.11%, Wednesday, closing at 27,911.30, the S&P 500 index closed 9.11 points, 0.29%, higher, at 3,141.63, while the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.53% rose 37.87 points, 0.44%, to 8,654.05.
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The president said on Twitter Thursday that the U.S. and China are nearing a “big deal” that could avoid fresh tariffs, planned to go in effect Dec. 15, and potentially roll back some existing duties, sending U.S. stocks to at or near record levels.
Getting VERY close to a BIG DEAL with China. They want it, and so do we!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 12, 2019
A report from the Wall Street Journal indicated U.S. trade negotiators are offering to cancel new China tariffs and reduce existing levies on Chinese goods by up to 50% on $360 billion worth of imports.
“This has become a buy high, sell higher market, and today’s strength is related to a US-China trade deal that seems to be coming together,” Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management, told MarketWatch.
GOP Sen. Cassidy breaks with Trump over deadly shooting by Border Patrol agent in Minneapolis
Video Appears to Show Man Shot By ICE Assault Woman, Instigate Violence, Resist Arrest
DHS says illegal immigrant accused of throwing rock at New Jersey school bus, injuring young girl
Gun rights groups clash after man DHS says was armed fatally shot by CBP in Minneapolis
Anti-ICE Rioters Barricading Entire Blocks in Minneapolis, Police Appear MIA
Rep Maxwell Frost allegedly assaulted at Sundance Film Festival in racially-charged incident
Frey, Klobuchar call for ICE to leave Minneapolis following deadly CBP shooting in city
Noem says Minneapolis suspect committed ‘domestic terrorism,’ accuses Walz, Frey of inciting violence
Trump Resurrects Reagan-Era Pro-Life Policy, Punishes and Defunds Foreign Abortion Operations, Gender Madness
Senate Dems revolt against DHS funding bill amid Minneapolis chaos, hiking government shutdown risk
Trump to skip Super Bowl in California, criticizes performers Bad Bunny and Green Day
Alex Pretti, 37, identified as man fatally shot by Border Patrol agent in Minneapolis
Anti-ICE agitator allegedly bites off federal officer’s finger during Minneapolis attack
‘Loyal soldier’: A day on the trail with JD Vance, Trump’s ‘human Swiss Army Knife’
READ IT: Bondi sends letter to Gov Walz warning Minnesota’s immigration policies endanger agents
Trump’s tweet followed the Federal Reserve leaving interest rates unchanged on Wednesday while expressing optimism about U.S. economic health.
Similarly, on Thursday the European Central Bank decided to keep its main deposit rate at negative 0.5%, while maintaining its rate of asset purchases at €20 billion a month, as widely expected by analysts. The ECB meeting was the first presided over by new President Christine Lagarde.
“We’re in an easy money environment, thanks to Jerome Powell, Christine Lagarde and central bankers around the world,” said Yousef Abbasi, director of U.S. institutional equities and global market strategist at INTL FCStone, in an interview.
In the U.S., “We’re not going to get any hikes in 2020 and at least for the first half of next year, the Fed is going to be buying assets hand over fist,” Abbasi added, referring to the Fed’s plan to expand its balance sheet through purchases of U.S. Treasury bills, in order to improve daily liquidity in money markets.
GOP Sen. Cassidy breaks with Trump over deadly shooting by Border Patrol agent in Minneapolis
Video Appears to Show Man Shot By ICE Assault Woman, Instigate Violence, Resist Arrest
DHS says illegal immigrant accused of throwing rock at New Jersey school bus, injuring young girl
Gun rights groups clash after man DHS says was armed fatally shot by CBP in Minneapolis
Anti-ICE Rioters Barricading Entire Blocks in Minneapolis, Police Appear MIA
Rep Maxwell Frost allegedly assaulted at Sundance Film Festival in racially-charged incident
Frey, Klobuchar call for ICE to leave Minneapolis following deadly CBP shooting in city
Noem says Minneapolis suspect committed ‘domestic terrorism,’ accuses Walz, Frey of inciting violence
Trump Resurrects Reagan-Era Pro-Life Policy, Punishes and Defunds Foreign Abortion Operations, Gender Madness
Senate Dems revolt against DHS funding bill amid Minneapolis chaos, hiking government shutdown risk
Trump to skip Super Bowl in California, criticizes performers Bad Bunny and Green Day
Alex Pretti, 37, identified as man fatally shot by Border Patrol agent in Minneapolis
Anti-ICE agitator allegedly bites off federal officer’s finger during Minneapolis attack
‘Loyal soldier’: A day on the trail with JD Vance, Trump’s ‘human Swiss Army Knife’
READ IT: Bondi sends letter to Gov Walz warning Minnesota’s immigration policies endanger agents
Meanwhile, the U.K. is holding a general election on Thursday which will play a crucial role in determining the course of its plans to exit from out of the European Union. Recent polling figures, indicate Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party is most likely to win, but his lead has narrowed over the rival Labour Party, injecting some doubt into the outcome.
In U.S. economic data, new unemployment claims jumped by 49,000 to 252,000 during the week ended Dec. 7, the Labor Department said Thursday, the highest level since Sept. 2017, though the data was likely affected by the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. Wholesale price inflation remained tame, with the producer-price index unchanged in November, with core producer prices, which strips out volatile energy and food prices, falling to a three-year low of 1.3%.
Shares of General Electric Co. GE, +4.74% gained 3.6%Thursday, after UBS analyst Markus Mittermaier upgraded shares to the equivalent of “buy” from “hold” and raised his price target to $14 from $11.50, compared with the stock’s $10.97 closing price Wednesday.
Starbucks Corp. SBUX, +2.09% stock rose nearly 2% after it was upgraded to overweight from neutral by J.P. Morgan, after a meeting with company management.
GOP Sen. Cassidy breaks with Trump over deadly shooting by Border Patrol agent in Minneapolis
Video Appears to Show Man Shot By ICE Assault Woman, Instigate Violence, Resist Arrest
DHS says illegal immigrant accused of throwing rock at New Jersey school bus, injuring young girl
Gun rights groups clash after man DHS says was armed fatally shot by CBP in Minneapolis
Anti-ICE Rioters Barricading Entire Blocks in Minneapolis, Police Appear MIA
Rep Maxwell Frost allegedly assaulted at Sundance Film Festival in racially-charged incident
Frey, Klobuchar call for ICE to leave Minneapolis following deadly CBP shooting in city
Noem says Minneapolis suspect committed ‘domestic terrorism,’ accuses Walz, Frey of inciting violence
Trump Resurrects Reagan-Era Pro-Life Policy, Punishes and Defunds Foreign Abortion Operations, Gender Madness
Senate Dems revolt against DHS funding bill amid Minneapolis chaos, hiking government shutdown risk
Trump to skip Super Bowl in California, criticizes performers Bad Bunny and Green Day
Alex Pretti, 37, identified as man fatally shot by Border Patrol agent in Minneapolis
Anti-ICE agitator allegedly bites off federal officer’s finger during Minneapolis attack
‘Loyal soldier’: A day on the trail with JD Vance, Trump’s ‘human Swiss Army Knife’
READ IT: Bondi sends letter to Gov Walz warning Minnesota’s immigration policies endanger agents
Delta Air Lines DAL, +3.08% said Thursday it expects to generate per-share earnings of $6.75 to $7.75 in 2020 as revenue grows 4% to 6%. Shares rose 3.4% Thursday.
Southwest Airlines LUV, +1.39% said Thursday it has reached a settlement with Boeing BA, -0.54%, over the grounding of its 737 Max fleet totaling about $125 million and that it will share the money with its employees. The company’s stock rose 1.9%.
Lululemon Athletica LULU, -3.94% fell more than 5% after the apparel retailer reported an adjusted third-quarter profit below Wall Street expectations late Wednesday.
Disney + DIS, +0.30% has been downloaded 22 million times to mobile devices in what is probably the most successful launch in the nascent industry’s history, according to app-tracking firm Apptopia.Shares gained 0.1%.
Apple AAPL, +0.09% saw its China iPhone shipments fall sharply in November, according to Credit Suisse.
The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note TMUBMUSD10Y, +6.19% surged 8 basis points to 1.88% as investors monitored ECB and trade developments.
GOP Sen. Cassidy breaks with Trump over deadly shooting by Border Patrol agent in Minneapolis
Video Appears to Show Man Shot By ICE Assault Woman, Instigate Violence, Resist Arrest
DHS says illegal immigrant accused of throwing rock at New Jersey school bus, injuring young girl
Gun rights groups clash after man DHS says was armed fatally shot by CBP in Minneapolis
Anti-ICE Rioters Barricading Entire Blocks in Minneapolis, Police Appear MIA
Rep Maxwell Frost allegedly assaulted at Sundance Film Festival in racially-charged incident
Frey, Klobuchar call for ICE to leave Minneapolis following deadly CBP shooting in city
Noem says Minneapolis suspect committed ‘domestic terrorism,’ accuses Walz, Frey of inciting violence
Trump Resurrects Reagan-Era Pro-Life Policy, Punishes and Defunds Foreign Abortion Operations, Gender Madness
Senate Dems revolt against DHS funding bill amid Minneapolis chaos, hiking government shutdown risk
Trump to skip Super Bowl in California, criticizes performers Bad Bunny and Green Day
Alex Pretti, 37, identified as man fatally shot by Border Patrol agent in Minneapolis
Anti-ICE agitator allegedly bites off federal officer’s finger during Minneapolis attack
‘Loyal soldier’: A day on the trail with JD Vance, Trump’s ‘human Swiss Army Knife’
READ IT: Bondi sends letter to Gov Walz warning Minnesota’s immigration policies endanger agents
West Texas Intermediate crude CLF22, -1.03% on the New York Mercantile Exchange gained 70 cents, or 1.2%, to $59.46 a barrel, after a 0.7% decline on Wednesday.
February gold GCG20, -0.32% on Comex fell $1.50, or 0.1%, to $1,474 an ounce, with the metal on track for a third gain in a row.
The U.S. dollar, as measured by the ICE U.S. Dollar Index DXY, +0.08%, was virtually unchanged at 97.44, against a basket of a half-dozen currency peers.
In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Europe index SXXP, +0.33% was trading 0.3% higher at 407.58.
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