· The three major U.S. stock indexes posted record closing highs and the S&P 500 registered a fifth straight week of gains on Friday as investors brushed aside worries over the progress of U.S.-China trade talks and as Walt Disney shares rose.
Doubts about trade progress resurfaced earlier in the day when President Donald Trump, in remarks to reporters at the White House, said he has not agreed to a rollback of U.S. tariffs sought by China.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 6.44 points, or 0.02%, to 27,681.24, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 7.9 points, or 0.26%, to 3,093.08 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 40.80 points, or 0.48%, to 8,475.31.
For the week, the S&P 500 rose 0.8%, posting a fifth straight week of gains, while the Nasdaq gained 1.1%, closing out its sixth straight week of gains. The Dow was up 1.2% for the week.
Increasing optimism on the trade front and mostly better-than-expected earnings have driven the recent record run in stocks. Of the 446 S&P 500 companies that have reported results so far, roughly three-quarters have beaten profit estimates, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. The numbers, to some extent, reflect significantly lowered analysts’ forecasts.
· European markets closed lower Friday, as investors reacted to conflicting signals about the ongoing Sino-U.S. trade war.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index closed provisionally down around 0.4%, with most sectors and major bourses in negative territory. Retailers were among the worst performers, Ocado leading the sector’s losses with a more than 7% drop.
· Asia Pacific markets were subdued on Monday morning, with the ongoing trade war between the United States and China set to take the spotlight this week.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.21% in early trade, while the Topix index rose 0.38%. South Korea’s Kospi was in negative territory, declining 0.37%.
In Australia, the benchmark ASX 200 jumped 0.40%.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was flat.
Reference: CNBC, Reuters
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