Stock Market News For Nov 28, 2018
Wall Street closed sharply higher on Tuesday after comments from a top U.S. economic adviser raised hopes for a solution to the ongoing trade war with China. Despite a highly volatile trading session, U.S. stocks posted a second successive day of gains .Defensive sectors led Tuesday’s stock market gains. All three major stock indexes finished in positive territory.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) closed at 24,748.73, up 0.4% or 108.49 points. The S&P 500 Index (INX) increased 0.3% to close at 2,682.17. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite Index (IXIC) closed at 7,082.70, gaining 85 points. A total of 6.79 billion shares were traded on Tuesday, lower than the last 20-session average of 7.90 billion shares. Decliners outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by 1.57-to-1 ratio. On the Nasdaq, decliners had an edge over advancers by 1.94-to-1 ratio. The CBOE VIX increased 0.6% to close at 19.02.
How Did the Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow ended in the positive territory with twenty-one components of the 30-stock index closing in the green while remaining nine closed the red. At the day’s low, the index was down 200 points. The blue-chip index also returned to positive territory year-to-date. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished in the green, buoyed by strong performance of tech giants.
Meanwhile, the S&P 500 also closed in green and returned to positive territory in the year-to-date period. Defensive sectors such as Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (XLP) and Utilities Select Sector SPDR (XLU) gained 0.9% and 0.8%, respectively. However, trade-sensitive Materials Select Sector SPDR (XLB) and IndustrialsSelect Sector SPDR (XLI) lost 1.2% and 0.2%, respectively. Notably, eight out of total 11 sectors of the benchmark index closed in the green while three finished in the red.
Trade War Concerns Ease
On Nov 27, U.S. National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow said the U.S. government has reopened negotiations on trade-related issues with China at several high powered levels. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are scheduled to meet on the sidelines of a G-20 summit in Argentina at the end of this week.
Additionally, Kudlow also stated that President Trump is hopeful that an amicable solution to the eight-month old trade related conflicts between two largest trading partners in the world can be reached during the upcoming G-20 summit.
However, on Nov 26, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, President Trump stated that his administration in on track to raise tariff rates from 10% to 25% on $200 billion Chinese goods from Jan 1, 2019.
Notably, the United States has already imposed 25% tariffs on $50 billion Chinese goods. Moreover, the Trump administration threatened to levy tariffs on remaining Chinese exports worth $267 billion, if China disagrees to accept U.S. terms and conditions related to bilateral trade.
Following positive comments from Larry Kudlow, shares of trade-sensitive stocks like The Boeing Co. BA and 3M Co. MMM rose 0.5% and 0.4%, respectively. The Boeing carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Economic Data
The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index came in at 135.7 in November. Although, November’s reading was lower than the previous month’s reading of 137.9, it managed to beat the consensus estimate of 135.4. The present situation index (describing consumer’s feeling about current business and labor conditions) increased to 172.7 in November from 171.9 in October. However, the expectations index (measuring consumers’ outlook on income, business and labor conditions) declined to 111.0 in November from 115.1 in October.
The S&P CoreLogicCase-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index increased 5.5% annually in September compared with 5.7% in August, reflecting the index’s lowest level since January 2017. The 10-City Compositehome prices index rose 4.8% annually in September compared with 5.2% in August. The 20-City Composite price index grew 5.1% annually in September compared with 5.5% in August.
Stock That Made Headline
Ecopetrol Projects Higher Investment on Projects in 2019
Ecopetrol S.A. EC released financial and operational plan for 2019.For 2019, the company projects investments between $3.5 and $4 billion, up 16-33% from the estimated figure in 2018. (Read More)
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