US close: Wall Street buoyed by further reports of China-US trade talks
US stocks finished higher on Friday as investors mulled over the latest apparently positive developments in the ongoing trade spat between the US and China, threats of more sanctions on Turkey and the news of an eleven-month low reading on the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index.
By the end of the session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up by 0.43% or 110.59 points at 25,669.32, with the S&P 500 ahead by 0.33% or 9.44 points to 2,850.13 and the Nasdaq up by 0.13% or 9.81 points to 7,816.33.
To take note of, the S&P 500 was just a smidgen below its record 52-week high of 2,872.87.
In parallel, the yield on the benchmark 10-year US government slipped by one basis points to 2.86%.
The biggest gains were seen in the following industrial groups: Coal (2.27%), Commercial vehicles (1.92%) and Computer hardware (1.91%).
Boosting stocks throughout the session, White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow had confirmed overnight that the US and China will resume trade talks later this month, but he also cautioned that Donald Trump was committed to making sure the administration gets a good deal.
His remarks, made to broadcaster CNBC on Thursday evening, were followed by a report in the Journal, on Friday evening, that Chinese and US negotiators were drawing-up a road-map that it was hoped would lead to the conclusion of trade talks by the time of a multilateral summit between US President Donald Trump and his counterpart planned for November.
Meanwhile, Turkey was not far from investors' minds after US Treasury Secretary Mnuchin signalled a more hard-line approach on Friday morning, saying that the US could impose more sanctions on the country if President Recep Tayyip Erdogan refused the quick release of the American pastor at the heart of the diplomatic crisis.
It was followed just before the close of trading in New York by a downgrade of Turkey's long-term debt rating from 'BB-' to 'B+' by Standard&Poor's.
Nevertheless, the US dollar finished the session off its best levels against the Turkish lira, having gained 3.15% to trade at 6.0177.
In corporate news, shares of Deere & Co gained 2.36% following the release of its third-quarter earnings, while chip makers Nvidia Corp and Applied Materials slipped 4.90% and 7.72%, respectively, on the back of their numbers published a day earlier.
Nordstrom was 13.20% higher as the department store chain's second-quarter earnings late on Thursday beat expectations and the company upped its earnings outlook for the year.
Elsewhere, Bristol-Myers dipped 0.36% following the revelation that the US Food and Drug Administration had approved its Opdivo drug for the treatment of small cell lung cancer.
On the data front, the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index fell to 95.3, down from the 97.9 printed in July and well short of the 98.5 reading predicted by economists.
The decline was focussed on households in the bottom third of the income distribution, with buying conditions for large household durables dropping to their lowest level in nearly four years and for vehicles, in particular, the worst reading seen in the last four years.
Dow Jones - Risers
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $139.34 2.26%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $217.58 2.00%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $42.09 1.62%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $45.87 1.57%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $134.47 1.50%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $67.80 1.06%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $54.79 0.96%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $46.60 0.82%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $134.40 0.82%
3M Co. (MMM) $204.77 0.80%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $97.85 -0.80%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $79.74 -0.39%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $161.14 -0.36%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $262.31 -0.30%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $47.10 -0.15%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $107.58 -0.06%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $112.48 -0.00%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $83.69 -0.00%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $114.76 0.00%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $130.42 0.06%
S&P 500 - Risers
Nordstrom Inc. (JWN) $59.18 13.20%
Perrigo Company plc (PRGO) $72.96 3.64%
Quanta Services Inc. (PWR) $34.14 2.89%
Cardinal Health Inc. (CAH) $51.90 2.87%
Harley-Davidson Inc. (HOG) $42.26 2.80%
ProLogis (PLD) $67.43 2.71%
Kroger Co. (KR) $31.35 2.69%
Equifax Inc. (EFX) $133.09 2.57%
Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) $19.82 2.54%
SCANA Corp. (SCG) $38.49 2.48%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $43.77 -7.72%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $244.82 -4.90%
Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $72.92 -3.53%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $169.91 -2.51%
Under Armour Inc. Class A (UAA) $20.49 -2.06%
Endo International Plc (ENDP) $15.64 -1.94%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $316.78 -1.76%
Humana Inc. (HUM) $324.62 -1.65%
Noble Energy Inc. (NBL) $28.78 -1.54%
Murphy Oil Corp. (MUR) $29.46 -1.50%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
NetEase Inc. Ads (NTES) $206.63 3.19%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $222.67 2.47%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $54.26 2.28%
PACCAR Inc. (PCAR) $67.16 2.25%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $217.58 2.00%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $142.33 1.96%
Workday, Inc. (WDAY) $142.65 1.86%
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $357.30 1.74%
Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC) $61.02 1.65%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $45.87 1.57%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $305.50 -8.93%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $43.77 -7.72%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $244.82 -4.90%
Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $72.92 -3.53%
Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $324.20 -3.17%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $169.91 -2.51%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $316.78 -1.76%
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $128.01 -1.31%
Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (TTWO) $124.30 -1.30%
Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) $245.70 -1.28%