(Reuters) – Wall Street edged higher on Tuesday, recovering from a dip at the open, as President Donald Trump disclosed the date and location for the signing of the much-awaited initial U.S.-China trade deal.
FILE PHOTO: Traders work on the floor at the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., December 27, 2019. REUTERS/Bryan R Smith
Trump wrote in a tweet that the Phase 1 agreement would be signed on Jan. 15 at the White House and that he would later travel to Beijing to begin negotiations on the next phase.
Trade-sensitive tech stocks .SPLRCT, including Apple Inc (AAPL.O), were the biggest boosts to the benchmark S&P 500 index, which is on track for its best year since 2013 and the second-best year in two decades.
A relatively loose monetary policy by the Federal Reserve and upbeat economic indicators have also lifted the major U.S. stock indexes to all-time highs this month.
Latest data from China showed manufacturing activity expanded for a second straight month in December, partly driven by seasonal demand.
The figures align with other signs of stabilization in the Asian economy, including last week’s data that showed profits at China’s industrial firms grew at the fastest pace in eight months in November.
At home, data showed a reading of the consumer confidence index was 126.5 in December, compared with a revised 126.8 in November.
At 9:58 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was up 6.15 points, or 0.02%, at 28,468.29, while the S&P 500 .SPX was up 1.81 points, or 0.06%, at 3,223.10. The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was up 12.82 points, or 0.14%, at 8,958.81.
Trading volumes are expected to remain thin this week, with stock markets shut for the New Year’s Day holiday on Wednesday.
Among individual stocks, U.S.-listed shares of Tencent Music Entertainment (TME.N) rose 1.5% after a consortium led by the China-based company agreed to buy a stake in Vivendi’s Universal Music Group.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.35-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 2.00-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded three new 52-week highs and no new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 36 new highs and 12 new lows.
Reporting by Manas Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel and Anil D’Silva