US close: Street finishes higher as China concerns ease
US trading finished the first trading day of the week in positive territory on Monday, as worries about a trade war between the US and China eased, suggesting that stocks' recent gains were set to continue.
Dow Jones I.A.
38,460.92
04:30 15/10/20
Nasdaq 100
17,526.80
12:15 24/04/24
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished 0.27% higher at 24,899.41, the S&P 500 was ahead 0.09% at 2,730.13, and the Nasdaq 100 ended the session up 0.17% at 6,984.37.
Traders continued to mull over developments in trade talks between the US and China, after Donald Trump said over the weekend that he would help Chinese telecom giant ZTE return to business after it suspended operations in April.
That suspension was a direct result of US Department of Commerce ban on American firms selling components to the company after it admitted to making illegal shipments to Iran and North Korea.
“Worries over the risk of a breakdown in negotiations between the US and Chinese are clearly fading after Trump showed a willingness to help out Chinese tech firm ZTE after they suspended operations off the back of US sanctions last month,” said Joshua Mahony, a market analyst at IG.
“With Trump clearly holding the cards amid potential concessions over steel and aluminium imports alongside ZTE, there is strong grounds for further talks to result in a positive outcome for global trade.”
Oil prices were in focus as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said it had "all the tools" needed to balance the market following the US decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal.
West Texas Intermediate was last up 0.56% at $71.10 per barrel, while Brent crude was 1.63% higher at $78.40, reversing earlier losses.
Investors were also digesting comments from Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester, who said in a speech in Paris earlier that it's too soon to declare that inflation in the US has reached its goal on a "sustainable basis".
"As the expansion continues, it could be that in order to maintain our policy goals, we may need to move the fed funds rate, for a time, a bit above the level of the funds rate that is expected to prevail over the longer run," she said.
"Of course, 2020 is a long time away and the policy path actually followed will be responsive to changes in the outlook."
Elsewhere, St Louis Fed President James Bullard said the growth in bitcoin and other digital currencies had created a "non-uniform" currency in the United States, which had existed in the past, but had ultimately been rejected and replaced.
Speaking at the CoinDesk Consensus 2018 conference in New York, Bullard said consumers and businesses may not like a non-uniform currency system.
"Cryptocurrencies may unwittingly be pushing in the wrong direction in trying to solve an important social problem, which is how best to facilitate market-based exchange," Bullard said.
On the corporate front, shares in electric car maker Tesla gave up earlier gains to finish down 3.02%, following reports senior executive Matthew Schwall had left the company for Waymo.
Technology group Xerox lost 4.31% after saying it would ditch its merger deal with Fujifilm.
Software firm Symantec rose 9.63% a day after plummeting 35% as a result of its audit committee revealing that it had launched an internal investigation, which spurred a series of downgrades from several brokerages.
Helios and Matheson Analytics, the majority owner of cinema ticket subscription service MoviePass, collected 4.75% after free falling almost 70% last week.
Dow Jones - Risers
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $243.00 1.94%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $84.39 1.21%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $35.86 1.01%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $67.52 0.90%
General Electric Co. (GE) $14.71 0.75%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $81.83 0.68%
Boeing Co. (BA) $344.59 0.62%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $68.85 0.60%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $130.56 0.42%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $54.90 0.42%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $130.00 -0.95%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $126.05 -0.93%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $45.70 -0.50%
Visa Inc. (V) $131.22 -0.46%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $164.70 -0.41%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $48.49 -0.27%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $42.04 -0.24%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $188.15 -0.23%
American Express Co. (AXP) $101.29 -0.13%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $73.29 -0.12%
S&P 500 - Risers
Symantec Corp. (SYMC) $21.40 9.63%
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) $3.63 7.14%
Mallinckrodt Plc Ordinary Shares (MNK) $15.65 5.10%
News Corp Class B (NWS) $16.25 4.84%
GameStop Corp. (GME) $13.25 4.33%
News Corp Class A (NWSA) $15.82 4.22%
Gap Inc. (GPS) $30.38 4.08%
Target Corp. (TGT) $72.90 3.77%
CVS Health Corp (CVS) $66.82 3.74%
Range Resources Corp. (RRC) $14.85 3.29%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Viacom Inc. Class B (VIAB) $28.74 -4.90%
Mattel Inc. (MAT) $14.19 -4.64%
Red Hat Inc. (RHT) $164.75 -4.48%
Xerox Corp. (XRX) $28.87 -4.31%
Teradata Corp. (TDC) $37.98 -3.77%
Darden Restaurants Inc. (DRI) $86.97 -3.72%
Perrigo Company plc (PRGO) $74.94 -3.33%
Alcoa Corporation (AA) $52.33 -3.02%
Cerner Corp. (CERN) $59.05 -2.93%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $127.72 -2.25%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Symantec Corp. (SYMC) $21.40 9.63%
Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) $71.44 3.24%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $81.12 2.94%
QUALCOMM Inc. (QCOM) $56.74 2.73%
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $122.85 2.67%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $53.00 2.28%
Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $29.55 2.18%
Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS) $99.02 2.07%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $30.22 2.06%
Asml Holdings N.V. (ASML) $201.94 1.58%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $298.58 -3.38%
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $291.97 -3.02%
Cerner Corp. (CERN) $59.05 -2.93%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $191.63 -2.05%
Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $134.11 -1.54%
Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (TTWO) $114.40 -1.46%
Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) $238.37 -1.45%
Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $28.37 -1.39%
Workday, Inc. (WDAY) $133.96 -1.31%
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (CHKP) $98.95 -1.28%