Roundup: U.S. stocks post weekly gain amid trade progress, Fed minutes

0 Comment(s)Print E-mail Xinhua, October 13, 2019
Adjust font size:

NEW YORK, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- U.S. equities advanced in the busy week marked by a new round of trade talks between China and the United States as well as the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting.

For the week, the Dow rose 0.91 percent, the S&P 500 was up 0.62 percent and the Nasdaq climbed 0.93 percent.

Wall Street finished significantly higher on Friday as market sentiment was underpinned by the latest round of trade talks between China and the United States.

The Dow surged 319.92 points to 26,816.59 at the close after cresting above 500 points. The S&P 500 rose 1.09 percent to 2,970.27, while the Nasdaq closed up 1.34 percent to 8,057.04.

Friday's rally helped the Dow and the S&P 500 to snap a three-week losing streak.

Traders welcomed the news about progress in U.S.-China trade talks, Mark Otto, a New York Stock Exchange Designated Market Maker and Global Market Commentator at GTS, told Xinhua on Friday.

"Growth-related sectors of the S&P 500 rallied, outperforming all others along with oil. Gold, which is often seen as a safe haven play sold off and treasury yields climbed," he noted.

China and the United States achieved substantial progress in multiple areas after holding a new round of high-level economic and trade consultations on Thursday and Friday in Washington.

"Obviously, the market has been waiting and hoping anxiously about a trade deal with China," Peter Tuchman, an experienced trader on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, told Xinhua.

"The market responded positively to all of that hope and the good news," he said.

Trade issues have been a big part of market anxieties since last year as they are closely related to corporate earnings.

Investors also digested the minutes of the Federal Reserve's September policy meeting, which was released on Wednesday.

"International trade tensions and foreign economic developments seemed more likely to move in directions that could have significant negative effects on the U.S. economy than to resolve more favorably than assumed," said the minutes of the Fed's Sept. 17-18 policy meeting.

"The September FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) minutes reinforce the likelihood of a rate cut at the meeting three weeks from now," Chris Low, chief economist at FTN Financial, said in a note, adding that the minutes showed a growing concern about the U.S. economic outlook and the international situation among FOMC participants.

On the data front, for the week ending Oct. 5, U.S. initial jobless claims, a rough way to measure layoffs, declined by 10,000 to 210,000, the Department of Labor said on Thursday.

Economists polled by MarketWatch estimated new claims would total a seasonally adjusted 220,000.

U.S. consumer price index for all urban consumers was flat in September, as increases in the indexes for shelter and food were offset by declines in the indexes for energy and used cars and trucks, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Thursday.

U.S. job openings, a measure of labor demand, slipped to 7.05 million in August from 7.17 million in the prior month, marking the lowest level since March 2018, the Department of Labor said Wednesday.

A flurry of disappointing U.S. data released recently raised hope for easier monetary policy from the Federal Reserve.

Market expectations for a rate cut later this month were around 75 percent, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool late Friday. Enditem

Follow China.org.cn on Twitter and Facebook to join the conversation.
ChinaNews App Download
Print E-mail Bookmark and Share

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)

No comments.

Add your comments...

  • User Name Required
  • Your Comment
  • Enter the words you see:   
    Racist, abusive and off-topic comments may be removed by the moderator.
Send your storiesGet more from China.org.cnMobileRSSNewsletter