US close: Stocks finish first quarter on a strong note, buoyed by trade news
Wall Street closed out the week and the quarter on a positive note, amid positive headlines regarding the state of US-Sino trade talks coming from across the Pacific.
By the end of trading, the Dow Jones was up 0.82% at 25,928.68, while the S&P 500 had gained 0.67% to 2,834.40 and the Nasdaq Composite was trading 0.78% higher at 7,729.32.
Over the quarter as a whole, the S&P 500 notched up a gain of 13%.
On Friday morning, American Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin revealed the latest round of negotiations in Beijing had been "constructive" and that he looked forward to the next round - scheduled for the following week.
Mnuchin's comments gave stocks a boost after White House economic advisor, Larry Kudlow, had said just 24 hours earlier that a finished trade deal might still be weeks or even months away.
Linked to the above, economists at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch warned that delays in signing a US-China trade deal could postpone the recovery in the Asian powerhouse's economy which many economists had been anticipating for the back half of 2019.
Elsewhere, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note moved to 2.44% from the 2.389% recorded on Thursday but was still hovering near a 15-month low.
On the data front, Americans remained a bit more cautious than expected on spending at the start of the year, although inflation was slightly better-behaved than anticipated too.
According to the Department of Commerce, so-called personal consumption expenditures rose by just 0.1% in January, versus economists' forecasts for growth of 0.3%.
Meanwhile, in February US personal incomes grew at a month-on-month pace of 0.2%, Commerce said, falling short of forecasts calling for an increase of 0.3% and following a dip of a tenth of a percentage point during the previous month.
Inflation pressures were nevertheless well-behaved, with the year-on-year rate of growth in the price deflator for personal consumption expenditures slipping from 1.8% in December to 1.4% for January, as anticipated.
But at the 'core' level, or stripping out food and energy prices, PCE inflation ebbed from 2.0% to 1.8%.
In other economic news, the Chicago-area manufacturing sector expanded more slowly than expected, with the Chicago PMI posting a reading of 58.7, short of consensus expectations of 61.0.
Consumer confidence in the States on the other hand held up better-than-expected in March.
The University of Michigan's closely-followed consumer confidence index rose from a reading of 93.8 at the end of February to 98.4, that was higher than a preliminary print of 97.8.
In corporate news, all eyes were on ridesharing service Lyft's IPO after the company was priced at $72 per share, effectively valuing it at $24bn.
Wells Fargo shares dipped 1.57% after embattled chief executive Tim Sloan shocked the Street by announcing his immediate retirement.
BlackBerry shares soared 13.63% after the cybersecurity outfit topped fourth-quarter profit and revenue estimates, while used-car retailer CarMax climbed 9.61% after also topping expectations, however, revenues and like-for-like sales fell short.
Dow Jones - Risers
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $135.51 2.36%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $247.22 2.30%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $128.89 2.05%
Boeing Co. (BA) $381.42 1.86%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $101.23 1.66%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $84.21 1.35%
Visa Inc. (V) $156.19 1.28%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $189.90 1.27%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $63.27 1.22%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $53.99 1.18%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $59.13 -2.87%
American Express Co. (AXP) $109.30 0.13%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $123.18 0.13%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $111.04 0.29%
3M Co. (MMM) $207.78 0.30%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $97.53 0.33%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $191.99 0.42%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $46.86 0.54%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $80.79 0.57%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $137.17 0.60%
S&P 500 - Risers
PVH Corp. (PVH) $121.92 9.97%
Carmax Inc. (KMX) $69.76 9.27%
Celgene Corp. (CELG) $94.34 7.88%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $41.33 5.06%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $48.06 5.05%
Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) $51.91 4.17%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $47.89 4.13%
Wellcare Healthplans (WCG) $269.75 3.83%
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $284.33 3.80%
Linde Plc (LIN) $175.91 3.79%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Lennar Corp. Class A (LEN) $49.09 -4.99%
Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC) $59.85 -3.76%
L Brands Inc (LB) $27.58 -3.09%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $59.13 -2.87%
PulteGroup Inc. (PHM) $27.96 -2.85%
Helmerich & Payne Inc. (HP) $55.58 -2.30%
Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (TTWO) $94.37 -2.20%
Phillips 66 Common Stock (PSX) $95.17 -2.16%
Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) $16.71 -2.05%
HollyFrontier Corp (HFC) $49.27 -1.95%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Celgene Corp. (CELG) $94.34 7.88%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $41.33 5.06%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $48.06 5.05%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $47.89 4.13%
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $284.33 3.80%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $39.66 2.99%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $31.76 2.78%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $30.15 2.52%
Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS) $82.48 2.41%
Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) $82.96 2.23%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (TTWO) $94.37 -2.20%
Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $346.91 -1.69%
Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $24.21 -1.30%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $24.92 -1.23%
Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) $39.98 -1.09%
Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC) $32.65 -0.73%
Hasbro Inc (HAS) $85.02 -0.63%
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $101.63 -0.56%
Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI) $5.67 -0.35%
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $45.53 -0.20%