ZCZC
BCN-13
US-STOCKS-MARKETS
Oil shares close higher, boosting US stocks
NEW YORK, Jan 3, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Wall Street stocks finished modestly
higher Wednesday as a rally in petroleum-linked shares offset the hit from
weak Chinese economic data.
After a choppy session that began with deep losses, the Dow Jones
Industrial Average finished the session with a 0.1 percent gain at 23,346.24.
The broad-based S&P 500 also edged up 0.1 percent to 2,510.03, while the
tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.5 percent to 6,665.94.
Markets began the first session of 2019 on a vulnerable note, with major
indices shedding more than one percent after Chinese data showed
manufacturing activity experiencing contraction in December for the first
time in more than two years.
But Wall Street got a lift in the afternoon following a Bloomberg News
report that Saudi Arabia cut its oil output. The report boosted oil prices
and petroleum-linked equities.
US stocks are coming off of the worst year in a decade, and the worst
December for the S&P 500 since 1931, a distinction that has troubled
President Donald Trump, who had previously touted a series of stock market
records as evidence of his effectiveness.
Trump called the December pullback as a “glitch” during a Cabinet meeting
on Wednesday, predicting the market would surge after a trade deal is reached
with China. Talks with Beijing are “coming along very well,” he said.
But IHS Markit said the stock market decline was a factor in cutting its
forecast for US growth for 2019 through 2022. And IHS said in a note it could
cut forecasts further if the US government shutdown drags on.
Among individual companies, shares of Tesla Motors dived 6.8 percent after
the electric car maker delivered fewer vehicles than expected in the fourth
quarter.
Petroleum-linked companies rose with oil prices, with Dow member Chevron
winning 1.7 percent, Apache 3.2 percent and Schlumberger 3.1 percent.
BSS/AFP/HR/0945