US close: Markets rise amid Trump-Xi trade war ceasefire

Wall Street finished its first session of the months with strong gains, as investors welcomed a 90-day trade truce between the US and China.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up 1.13% at 25,826.43, the S&P 500 rose 1.09% at 2,790.37, and the Nasdaq 100 gained 1.63% to 7,062.13.

At the G20 summit over the weekend, Donald Trump and China's Xi Jinping said they would postpone the introduction of any further tariffs for the time being as they attempt to settle their differences through talks.

The US said it would hold fire on raising tariffs on $200bn-worth of Chinese goods from 10% to 25% on 1 January.

Meanwhile, China said it was willing to immediately start buying a "very substantial" amount of agriculture, energy and other goods from the US in order to reduce the trade imbalance.

“This positive rhetoric and mood music is likely to be sustained through December as the two sides seek a deal, which is likely to mean we see a decent 'Santa rally' through December,” said Neil Wilson, chief market analyst Markets.com.

On the data front, Markit's manufacturing PMI for November came in at 59.3%, a month-on-month increase of 1.6% and better than the 57.8% expected by economists.

A sub-index of new orders gained 4.7 points on last month to 62.1% and the production index picked up 0.7% to 60.6%.

Elsewhere, US construction spending dropped for a third consecutive month in October as outlays on private projects declined.

The Commerce Department revealed construction spending decreased 0.1% to $1.31trn.

September's construction outlays were revised down 0.1%.

In corporate news, shares in pharmaceutical company Tesaro rocketed 58.47% as it agreed to be bought by GlaxoSmithKline for around $5.1bn.

In other deal news, Texas-based Nexstar Media Group was 6.87% higher after it agreed to buy Tribune Media for $4.6bn.

Tribune was 11.72% higher.

Dow Jones - Risers

Nike Inc. (NKE) $77.94 4.84%
Boeing Co. (BA) $359.93 3.81%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $184.82 3.49%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $138.95 2.42%
Visa Inc. (V) $145.00 2.38%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $59.16 2.26%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $81.22 2.16%
3M Co. (MMM) $208.76 2.05%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $112.24 1.98%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $286.33 1.90%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $58.16 -3.48%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $185.39 -2.06%
American Express Co. (AXP) $112.36 0.08%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $130.13 0.21%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $115.74 0.22%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $146.24 0.25%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $191.66 0.49%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $93.32 0.54%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $181.74 0.79%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $125.31 0.84%

S&P 500 - Risers

Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $119.79 9.50%
Estee Lauder Co. Inc. (EL) $152.64 7.00%
Mastercard Incorporated (MA) $209.85 6.71%
Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) $28.78 6.44%
FMC Technologies Inc. (FTI) $24.55 6.30%
Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) $17.55 6.04%
Frontier Communications Co. (FTR) $3.78 5.88%
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) $3.09 5.82%
Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $1,772.36 4.86%
Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC) $55.47 4.86%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (LH) $148.04 -8.49%
Discovery Inc. Class A (DISCA) $28.20 -8.20%
Discovery Inc. Class C (DISCK) $25.87 -7.38%
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $46.60 -6.58%
Southwestern Energy Co. (SWN) $4.64 -3.93%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $58.16 -3.48%
Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) $84.75 -3.25%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $202.93 -2.55%
Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. (KDP) $26.35 -2.34%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $185.39 -2.06%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $119.79 9.50%
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $68.32 6.33%
Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $369.51 4.98%
Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $1,772.36 4.86%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $382.61 4.64%
Ctrip.Com International Ltd. Ads (CTRP) $30.02 4.06%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $170.04 4.04%
Marriott International - Class A (MAR) $119.53 3.91%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $44.76 3.88%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $40.03 3.81%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $46.60 -6.58%
Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (TTWO) $103.46 -5.66%
Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) $84.75 -3.25%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $202.93 -2.55%
PACCAR Inc. (PCAR) $61.11 -1.78%
Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $70.86 -1.50%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $39.65 -1.27%
J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. (JBHT) $105.01 -1.27%
Hasbro Inc (HAS) $89.87 -1.24%
Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $21.26 -1.07%