US close: Stocks ring in New Year positively
US stocks closed higher on the first day of 2020 thanks to some encouraging news out of China.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 1.16% at 28,868.80, the S&P 500 added 0.84% to 3,257.85, and the Nasdaq Composite was ahead 1.33% at 9,092.19.
At the open, the Dow waa 187.65 points firmer on Thursday after Wall Street's banner year came to an end on Tuesday.
Sentiment received a boost late on Tuesday after President Donald Trump revealed he would be signing a first phase trade deal with China at the White House on 15 January.
Trump also announced that he would be heading to Beijing at a later date to initiate phase two talks.
Also in focus was news that China's central bank would cut the required reserve ratio for commercial lenders by 50 basis points from 6 January, in a bid to bolster its slowing economy.
According to the People’s Bank of China, the move will release around CNY 800bn (£87.0bn) of liquidity into the financial system.
At present, the required reserve ratio is 13.0% for big banks and 11.0% for smaller ones.
"China kicked off 2020 with a belated Christmas present for the markets, the effects of which were still being felt on Thursday," said SpreadEx analyst Connor Campbell.
"That this comes after the 'phase one' trade agreement with the US - set to be signed on 15 January - caused the markets to have a very merry start to the New Year."
On a more cautious note, strategists at Bank of America Global Research forecast just a 2.0% rise for the S&P 500 in 2020 to reach 3,300 points by year-end, telling clients that some of 2020's gains were likely pulled into 2019 and that they would "expect more realistic returns in 2020".
However, they added that their "long-term bullish stance on US stocks is still supported by valuation".
On the data front, the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell last week, according to figures released by the Labor Department on Thursday.
Jobless claims came in at 222,000, down 2,000 from the previous week’s level, which was revised up by 2,000.
Economists had been expecting a level of 225,000.
Meanwhile, the four-week moving average came in at 233,250, up 4,750 from the previous week's average, which was revised up by 500 - the highest level for the average since January 2018.
Elsewhere, economic activity in the US manufacturing sector continued to expand at a modest pace in December, with the IHS Markit's Manufacturing PMI coming in at 52.4.
That was slightly worse than the previous estimate, and market expectations for a reading of 52.5.
Tesla shares accelerated by 2.85% after analysts at Canaccord Genuity raised their price target on the stock from $375.0 per share to $515.0.
Also boosting the carmaker's shares on Thursday were remarks from its general manager in China, who reportedly said that the firm was set to ramp-up deliveries of its Chinese-made Model 3s in January.
No major corporate earnings were slated for release on Thursday.
Dow Jones - Risers
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $148.20 2.47%
Boeing Co. (BA) $333.32 2.32%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $300.35 2.28%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $153.14 2.26%
3M Co. (MMM) $180.00 2.03%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $150.53 1.93%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $234.32 1.91%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $160.62 1.85%
Visa Inc. (V) $191.12 1.71%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $60.84 1.65%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $123.41 -1.19%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $54.99 -0.65%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $61.05 -0.57%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $292.50 -0.50%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $39.14 -0.10%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $30.52 0.00%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $145.97 0.07%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $118.94 0.08%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $59.08 0.20%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $137.51 0.41%
S&P 500 - Risers
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) $49.10 7.06%
General Electric Co. (GE) $11.93 6.90%
Wabtec Corp. (WAB) $80.95 4.05%
Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) $101.65 3.97%
Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC) $355.70 3.41%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $143.60 3.41%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $65.62 3.39%
Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY) $42.58 3.32%
Roper Technologies Inc (ROP) $365.17 3.09%
Msci Inc. (MSCI) $266.05 3.05%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Kimco Realty Corp. (KIM) $19.60 -5.36%
Iron Mountain Inc (New) (IRM) $30.41 -4.58%
Macerich Co (MAC) $25.93 -3.68%
Kohls Corp. (KSS) $49.11 -3.61%
L Brands Inc (LB) $17.49 -3.48%
Sl Green Realty Corp. (SLG) $88.91 -3.23%
Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) $20.96 -2.90%
Macy's Inc. (M) $16.52 -2.82%
CF Industries Holdings Inc. (CF) $46.40 -2.81%
Weyerhaeuser Co. (WY) $29.39 -2.68%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Trip.com Group Limited (TCOM) $36.97 10.23%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $138.22 9.35%
NetEase Inc. Ads (NTES) $328.70 7.19%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $37.73 7.10%
Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $610.19 6.69%
Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) $101.65 3.97%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $143.60 3.41%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $65.62 3.39%
Cadence Design Systems Inc. (CDNS) $71.44 3.00%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $55.39 2.99%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $8.11 -3.80%
Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC) $31.61 -1.62%
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $85.97 -1.55%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $327.00 -1.43%
Mondelez International Inc. (MDLZ) $54.33 -1.36%
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $58.65 -1.30%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $22.48 -1.14%
Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $21.60 -0.89%
Biogen Inc (BIIB) $294.24 -0.84%
Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) $291.49 -0.83%