· Wall Street stocks notched record closing highs on Monday as cooling trade tensions between Washington and Beijing and upbeat economic data from China boosted investor sentiment.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 100.51 points, or 0.36%, to 28,235.89, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 22.65 points, or 0.71%, to 3,191.45 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 79.35 points, or 0.91%, to8,814.23.
The Dow surpassed its November closing high, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq marked record closes for the third straight session.
Adding to the optimism, data released early on Monday showed China’s industrial output and retail sales growth accelerated in November.
· “That’s very bullish,” said Ari Wald, Oppenheimer technical analyst, of the jump in new highs. “Historically, that’s going to peak ahead of the actual S&P. If that’s making new highs, that’s the kind of broad-based internal breadth that signals a continuing trend ...The time to get concerned is when the S&P is making new highs and that’s making less.”
The S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq all closed at a record highs Monday. The S&P finished at 3,191 Monday, up 0.7%, and was just 9 points away from its next technical test at 3,200.
Wald said a positive sign for the market is the recent break out of microcaps.
“Usually at a meaningful market top, it will be the other way around. Internal conditions will weaken first. The market will start to sell small caps,” said Wald. “It will get picked up in the benchmark S&P last. You’ll see some narrowing of participation at the top.”
· European stocks traded sharply higher Monday after the U.S. and China agreed a ‘phase one’ trade deal, offering some optimism for risk assets.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed higher by almost 1.5% during trade, surpassing 418 to hit an all-time high. Basic resources led the way with 2.3% gains as all sectors and major bourses traded firmly in positive territory.
· Stocks in Asia traded higher Tuesday morning as sentiment continues to be buoyed by a recent phase one trade deal reached between Beijing and Washington.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 added 0.51% in early trade while the Topix index gained 0.43%. The Kospi in South Korea also rose 0.35% as shares of industry heavyweight Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix both jumped by more than 1.5% each.
Meanwhile, shares in Australia edged higher in morning trade, as the S&P/ASX 200 rose fractionally.
Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index traded 0.1% higher.
Reference: CNBC, Reuters
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