ZCZC
BCN-15
US-STOCKS-MARKETS
US stocks gain as Trump more upbeat on China talks
NEW YORK, Sept 26, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Wall Street stocks rose Wednesday
following upbeat comments from Donald Trump on China trade talks as investors
largely shrugged off the just-announced impeachment investigation of the US
president.
Trump, in an appearance at the United Nations, said a deal with China could
come sooner than expected, lifting stocks.
The remarks came just one day after Trump railed against Chinese “abuses”
at the UN summit, comments that had been seen as among the factors causing
stocks to fall Tuesday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up 0.6 percent at 26,970.71.
The broad-based S&P 500 also gained 0.6 percent to 2,984.87, while the
tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 1.1 percent to 8,077.38.
Investors appeared to take a wait-and-see view of the House Democrat move
to launch an impeachment probe of Trump based on his interactions with
Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky.
A memorandum of a call released by the White House showed Trump had urged
his Ukrainian counterpart to investigate rival Joe Biden.
Leading Republicans dismissed the matter but Democrats called it a smoking
gun.
Among individual companies, Dow member Nike surged 4.2 percent after
reporting better-than-expected quarterly profits on strong direct sales and
higher revenues from China.
Boeing also added to the Dow’s gains, advancing 1.2 percent as it announced
a number of reforms to its board and corporate structure to highlight safety
concerns after two crashes led to 346 fatalities and the grounding of its
popular 737 MAX plane.
Philip Morris International rose 5.2 percent as it and Altria called off a
potential $200 billion merger following a sudden surge in worries about
vaping. Altria, which holds a major stake in e-cigarette company Juul, shed
0.4 percent.
Marathon Petroleum surged 8.4 percent after activist fund Elliot Management
called for the petroleum product company to be broken up.
BSS/AFP/HR/1055