US close: Stocks reach fresh records as investors continue cheering trade deal
Wall Street stocks surged to new records at the closing bell on Thursday, after the US and China signed their "phase one" trade agreement during the previous session.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.92% at 29,297.64, the S&P 500 added 0.84% to 3,316.81, and the Nasdaq Composite finished 1.06% higher at 9,357.13.
At the open, the Dow was 180.90 points stronger after closing Wednesday with a new record high of 29,030.22, as investors cheered the signing of the trade deal between the world's two largest economies.
Under the agreement, Beijing will buy an additional $200.0bn worth of US goods over the next two years, meaning US exports to China should theoretically rise to $263.0bn in 2020 and $309.0bn in 2021 - marking a record-breaking acceleration of US exports to China.
Vice Premier Liu He said China's other suppliers of agricultural commodities would not be impacted by the Sino-US trade deal since buying would be based on market principles, according to a state-owned news outlet CCTV.
However, some analysts still believe that additional tariffs may still be slapped on Beijing despite the signing and have cautioned that there was still a very real threat that trade uncertainties could develop elsewhere, including in Europe.
“There's relief at the situation progressing in a positive way that removes some uncertainty but disappointment at the same time that tariffs remain in place and will for the foreseeable future,” said Oanda's Craig Erlam.
“Thankfully, earnings season will provide a handy distraction and may give investors reason to feel cheerful and bullish, even at these levels.
“It's got off to a mixed start but I feel that may be the theme for much of the next few weeks.”
Elsewhere, White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow revealed further tax cuts would take place in 2020.
In terms of data, the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week, according to figures released by the Labor Department on Thursday.
Jobless claims were down 10,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level to 204,000. Economists had been expecting an uptick to 216,000.
Claims were down for the fifth week in a row.
Elsewhere, retail sales in the country grew more quickly than expected last month, although according to some economists, the details of the report pointed to household spending coming off the boil.
According to the Department of Commerce, in seasonally adjusted terms, US retail sales volumes increased at a month-on-month pace of 0.3% in December to reach $529.6bn, against consensus expectations for a 0.2% improvement.
Meanwhile, a key lead indicator for the US manufacturing sector got off to a flying start in 2019, although the details of the survey were perhaps not quite as strong as they appeared to be at first glance.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's factory sector index jumped from a reading of 2.4 for November to 17.0 in December.
Economists had forecast a reading of 3.4 for the gauge which tracks manufacturing activity in America's mid-Atlantic region.
Still on data, US business inventories fell more than they had in the last two and a half years in November as sales rebounded, suggesting inventory investment could be a drag on economic growth in the fourth quarter.
The Commerce Department revealed on Thursday that business inventories dropped 0.2%, which was the biggest decline since April 2017, after edging up 0.1% in October.
Lastly, the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index settled back a bit after its five-point surge in December took it to its highest level since 1999.
The index, which measures builder confidence in the market for newly constructed homes, dipped one point in January to 75.
On the corporate front, Morgan Stanley shares closed 6.61% higher following its latest quarterly figures, while Bank of New York Mellon slid 7.83% after the release of its results.
Google parent Alphabet was up 0.76%, making it the fourth technology firm to breach the $1trn market capitalisation level, after its rise added around $8bn in value.
Low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines was up 0.49% after it said it had removed the Boeing 737 MAX from its schedule until 6 June.
Boeing’s top selling narrowbody remained grounded worldwide after two fatal crashes, blamed on design flaws, although its stock was still ahead 0.67% by the end of play on Thursday.
Dow Jones - Risers
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $49.05 2.17%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $228.82 1.88%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $249.72 1.84%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $166.17 1.83%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $147.87 1.58%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $300.69 1.46%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $315.24 1.25%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $59.66 1.22%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $153.62 1.05%
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $137.98 1.00%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $91.18 -0.39%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $68.82 -0.39%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $40.61 -0.15%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $54.42 -0.02%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $30.52 0.00%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $126.07 0.09%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $56.82 0.21%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $137.22 0.39%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $210.85 0.51%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $115.87 0.54%
S&P 500 - Risers
Morgan Stanley (MS) $56.44 6.61%
Charles Schwab Corp. (SCHW) $49.00 3.99%
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $285.03 3.99%
Gap Inc. (GPS) $18.61 3.85%
CenturyLink Inc. (CTL) $13.56 3.83%
Ipg Photonics Corp. (IPGP) $145.02 3.77%
Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (JEF) $22.41 3.32%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $68.67 3.00%
Twitter Inc (TWTR) $34.19 2.89%
MGM Resorts International (MGM) $34.03 2.81%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Bank Of New York Mellon Corp. (BK) $46.72 -7.83%
PPG Industries Inc. (PPG) $127.41 -2.55%
Biogen Inc (BIIB) $286.14 -2.37%
Helmerich & Payne Inc. (HP) $45.25 -1.76%
Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $63.20 -1.40%
American Tower Corp (Reit) (AMT) $232.24 -1.33%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $385.57 -1.33%
Apache Corp. (APA) $33.10 -1.31%
Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $508.78 -1.28%
Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY) $46.67 -1.25%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $9.01 4.40%
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $285.03 3.99%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $68.67 3.00%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $57.68 2.69%
Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) $101.36 2.56%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $305.95 2.55%
Trip.com Group Limited (TCOM) $38.45 2.37%
QUALCOMM Inc. (QCOM) $91.79 2.36%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $28.23 2.36%
CSX Corp. (CSX) $76.74 2.33%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Biogen Inc (BIIB) $286.14 -2.37%
Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $63.20 -1.40%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $385.57 -1.33%
Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $508.78 -1.28%
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $513.49 -0.97%
Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $20.30 -0.64%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $39.56 -0.55%
Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG) $2,054.75 -0.50%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $240.50 -0.50%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $21.97 -0.36%