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Wall Street stocks end higher on US-China trade hopes
NEW YORK, Aug 18, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Wall Street stocks finished solidly higher
for a second straight session on Friday on hopes of a breakthrough in US-
China trade talks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.4 percent to 25,669.32.
The broad-based S&P 500 advanced 0.3 percent to 2,850.13, while the tech-
rich Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.1 percent at 7,816.33.
Major indices spent much of the morning in the red on the latest back-and-
forth in a diplomatic spat between the United States and Turkey.
But markets rallied following a midday Wall Street Journal report that
Washington and Beijing were taking steps to try to resolve a trade dispute
ahead of a November summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese
leader Xi Jinping.
The article added to positive sentiment after both sides on Thursday
confirmed a resumption of talks, even though both parties are still expected
to enact fresh tariffs next week.
“Clearly the market rallied after that Wall Street Journal report,” said
Karl Haeling of LBBW. “At the same time though, the market did not rally that
much.”
“The lack of details prevented a bigger rally,” he added. “There’s still a
lot of uncertainty about what all this means.”
Tesla Motors slumped 8.9 percent on continued fallout from Chief Executive
Elon Musk’s efforts to take the electric automaker private.
In an interview with The New York Times, Musk acknowledged exhaustion from
overwork as regulators probe his statements about the plan on Twitter.
Nordstrom surged 13.3 percent after raising its full-year forecast
following a four percent jump in comparable sales in the second quarter.
Analysts viewed the results as better than those of Macy’s and some other
department stores.
Deere & Co added 2.4 percent after projecting that agricultural equipment
sales would rise 30 percent in 2018. “Replacement demand for large
agricultural equipment is driving sales even in the face of tensions over
global trade and other geopolitical issues,” said Chief Executive Samuel
Allen.
BSS/AFP/SR/1615 HRS