ZCZC
BCN-06
US-STOCKS-MARKETS
US stocks end strong week as Microsoft overtakes Apple
NEW YORK, Dec 1, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – US stocks finished a banner week on a
positive note on Friday amid hopes of a US-China trade detente, as Microsoft
overtook Apple in market value.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 0.8 percent to 25,538.46.
The broad-based S&P 500 also added 0.8 percent at 2,760.16, along with the
tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index, which finished at 7,330.54.
All three major indices notched strong gains for the week, with the S&P
500’s gain of 4.8 percent the best since December 2011.
On Friday, the leaders of the United States, Mexico and Canada signed a
huge regional trade deal to replace the old North American Free Trade
Agreement.
Trump also said that were “good signs” ahead of talks Saturday with his
Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on the sidelines of a G-20 summit in Buenos
Aires.
FTN Financial’s Chris Low said the signing of the North American trade
agreement was “reassuring” but that many analysts were skeptical of a
breakthrough on China.
US stocks have been under pressure for much of the fall due to worries
about higher Federal Reserve interest rates and slowing growth from the US-
China trade fight.
But stocks gained this week, following a speech from Fed Chair Jerome
Powell that investors viewed as dovish.
Big movers in the Dow included Caterpillar, Intel and Coca-Cola, all of
which gained about three percent or more. Goldman Sachs was a laggard,
dropping 2.2 percent following a downgrade from Bank of America-Merrill
Lynch.
Microsoft climbed 0.6 percent to finish with a market capitalization of
$851.2 billion, edging out Apple by nearly $4 billion in value. It was the
first time in eight years that Microsoft closed above Apple, which slipped
0.5 percent.
Hotel chain Marriott International slumped 5.6 percent after announcing
that it suffered a hack of up to 500 million guests from the Starwood
reservation database, which the company acquired in 2016.
General Electric fell 5.5 percent after a Wall Street Journal report
described a deepening US probe into accounting at the slumping conglomerate.
The article quoted one former employee who left the company out of concern
that senior executives had not accounted for risk in an insurance division
that went on to suffer a $15 billion shortfall.
BSS/AFP/HR/0930