· U.S. stocks crawled higher on Tuesday, and all three major Wall Street indexes notched record levels, as upbeat comments by President Donald Trump on trade talks eclipsed some softer-than-anticipated economic data.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 55.21 points, or 0.2%, to 28,121.68, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 6.88 points, or 0.22%, to 3,140.52 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 15.45 points, or 0.18%, to 8,647.93.
Rising hopes for a trade deal between the world’s two largest economies, solid U.S. economic indicators and a third-quarter corporate earnings season that has largely topped lowered expectations have pushed stocks higher. The three major indexes have now notched a record close in five of the past eight sessions.
Also supporting stocks has been the dovish turn by the Federal Reserve, which has cut interest rates three times this year. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said on Monday that monetary policy was “well positioned” to support the strong labor market.
Investors are watching for signs on the health of the consumer for the holiday shopping season. Consumer confidence fell for a fourth straight month in November but remained at levels sufficient to support a steady pace of consumer spending, according to data on Tuesday. A separate report showed that new home sales unexpectedly dropped in October, although data for the prior month was revised up, with purchases hitting their highest level in over 12 years.
· Shares in Asia traded higher Wednesday morning following fresh record highs touched on Wall Street overnight.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan rose 0.46% in early trade, while the Topix index gained 0.42%. South Korea’s Kospi also advanced 0.4%.
Meanwhile, shares in Australia rose in morning trade, with the S&P/ASX 200 up about 0.42%.
The broader MSCI Asia ex-Japan index traded 0.15% higher.
Markets were lifted in recent days amid positive rhetoric on the U.S.-China trade front. Leading negotiators from Washington and Beijing held another phone call on Tuesday morning to discuss how to “resolve core issues,” China’s Ministry of Commerce said.
That was bolstered by comments from U.S. President Donald Trump, who also said Tuesday that Washington and Beijing are in the throes of reaching a trade deal.
Still, an anticipated “phase one” trade deal between the two economic powerhouses has remained elusive ahead of Dec. 15, when additional tariffs on Chinese exports to the U.S. are set to kick in.
Reference: CNBC, Reuters
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