Global stocks, dollar, yields climb on trade progress news

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Global stock indexes, the dollar and bond yields rose on Friday, with the S&P 500 nearing a record high as the United States said it was close to finalizing parts of a trade deal with China.

FILE PHOTO: Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., October 24, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

The U.S. Trade Representative’s office also said that deputy-level talks would proceed “continuously.” Washington and Beijing are working to agree on the text for a “Phase 1” trade agreement announced by U.S. President Donald Trump on Oct. 11.

Trump has said he hopes to sign the deal with China’s President Xi Jinping next month at a summit in Chile.

During the session, the S&P 500 surpassed its closing record of 3,025.86 from July 26 but ended at 3,022.55. The S&P 500’s total return index .SPXT posted an all-time high.

“The little bit of positive trade news has pushed the market up, but it wasn’t all that negative even before this news came up,” said Andrew Slimmon, senior portfolio manager at Morgan Stanley Investment Management in New York. “There’s not a lot of selling left out there.”

Strong results from companies including Intel (INTC.O) also helped the S&P 500 even as Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) shares sagged following the company’s forecast for revenue and profit for the holiday quarter below expectations.

The majority of U.S. companies have beaten Wall Street expectations so far this earnings season despite concern about the trade war.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 152.53 points, or 0.57%, to 26,958.06, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 12.26 points, or 0.41%, to 3,022.55 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 57.32 points, or 0.7%, to 8,243.12.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.16% and MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.27%.

The world’s largest beer maker, Anheuser-Busch InBev, (ABI.BR) tumbled on disappointing quarterly profit and a glum outlook.

The dollar index .DXY rose 0.2%.

Sterling was lower on the day. The European Union agreed to London’s request for a Brexit deadline extension but set no new departure date. That gave Britain’s divided parliament time to decide on Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s call for a snap election.

Sterling GBP= was last trading at $1.2829, down 0.16% on the day.

In the U.S. bond market, yields rose following the trade news.

Benchmark 10-year notes last fell 10/32 in price to yield 1.7995%, from 1.766% late on Thursday.

Oil prices climbed, supported by optimism on the trade front and by falling U.S. crude stocks.

U.S. crude rose 43 cents to settle at $56.66 a barrel, while Brent gained 35 cents to settle at $62.02.

Additional reporting by April Joyner in New York, Arjun Panchadar in Bengaluru and Karin Strohecker in London; Editing by Alistair Bell, Daniel Wallis and Cynthia Osterman

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
source: reuters.com