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U.S. stocks continued to edge higher on Tuesday, after embarking the road north for five consecutive trading sessions. Investor spirit was largely boosted by a slew of positive economic data and an almost finalized trade deal between the United States and China.
The three major indexes — the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite — closed in the green on Tuesday. Dow hit 28,267.16 after gaining 0.1%, the S&P 500 finished at 3,192.52 after adding 0.03% and the tech-laden Nasdaq Composite closed at 8,823.36 after increasing 0.1%.
The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) declined 0.4% to close at 12.09 on Dec 17. Finally, advancers outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a 1.59-to-1 ratio.
Phase One Trade Deal “Almost” Here
U.S. stocks felt the effect of investors’ optimism around President Donald Trump’s phase one trade agreement with China. After all, the 17-month trade war between the two largest economies in the world could finally come to an end.
As part of the phase one trade deal, the United States said that China agreed to raise imports of American goods in 2020 and 2021 by a total of $200 billion more than the total in 2017, which comprise of about $40 billion of American farm goods.
The agreement also consists of China’s action toward protecting U.S. intellectual property and assurances of not manipulating its currency. The deal also canceled a set of U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods that were scheduled to be effective from Dec 15. Investors expect the two countries to finalize the phase one deal in the first week of January.
Economic News
According to the Federal Reserve on Dec 17, manufacturing production increased 1.1% in November from October. The major reason behind this rebound last month was end of a six-week long strike by employees of General Motors Company (GM - Free Report) .
The end of this strike led the output of motor vehicles and parts to bounce back last month, which pushed November’s manufacturing output. Thus, excluding the production of motor vehicles and parts, overall industrial production and manufacturing output last month increased 0.5% and 0.3% respectively.
Apart from the rise in manufacturing output, building permits for privately-owned housing units also climbed in November. According to the Commerce Department, building permits for new residential construction last month were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,482,000. This marks a 1.4% rise from October’s revised rate of 1,461,000 and is 11.1% higher than the November 2018 rate of 1,334,000.
In addition, privately-owned housing starts in November were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,365,000. This is 3.2% more than the revised October estimate of 1,323,000 and is 13.6% higher than the November 2018 rate of 1,202,000. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
FedEx Corporation (FDX - Free Report) reported lower-than-expected second-quarter fiscal 2020 (ended Nov 30, 2019) results on account of weak global economy due to escalating trade tensions, higher costs at the Ground unit and loss of business with Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) . (Read more)
7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days
Just released: Experts distill 7 elite stocks from the current list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buys. They deem these tickers “Most Likely for Early Price Pops.”
Since 1988, the full list has beaten the market more than 2X over with an average gain of +24.6% per year. So be sure to give these hand-picked 7 your immediate attention.
Image: Bigstock
Stock Market News for Dec 18, 2019
U.S. stocks continued to edge higher on Tuesday, after embarking the road north for five consecutive trading sessions. Investor spirit was largely boosted by a slew of positive economic data and an almost finalized trade deal between the United States and China.
The three major indexes — the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite — closed in the green on Tuesday. Dow hit 28,267.16 after gaining 0.1%, the S&P 500 finished at 3,192.52 after adding 0.03% and the tech-laden Nasdaq Composite closed at 8,823.36 after increasing 0.1%.
The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) declined 0.4% to close at 12.09 on Dec 17. Finally, advancers outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a 1.59-to-1 ratio.
Phase One Trade Deal “Almost” Here
U.S. stocks felt the effect of investors’ optimism around President Donald Trump’s phase one trade agreement with China. After all, the 17-month trade war between the two largest economies in the world could finally come to an end.
As part of the phase one trade deal, the United States said that China agreed to raise imports of American goods in 2020 and 2021 by a total of $200 billion more than the total in 2017, which comprise of about $40 billion of American farm goods.
The agreement also consists of China’s action toward protecting U.S. intellectual property and assurances of not manipulating its currency. The deal also canceled a set of U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods that were scheduled to be effective from Dec 15. Investors expect the two countries to finalize the phase one deal in the first week of January.
Economic News
According to the Federal Reserve on Dec 17, manufacturing production increased 1.1% in November from October. The major reason behind this rebound last month was end of a six-week long strike by employees of General Motors Company (GM - Free Report) .
The end of this strike led the output of motor vehicles and parts to bounce back last month, which pushed November’s manufacturing output. Thus, excluding the production of motor vehicles and parts, overall industrial production and manufacturing output last month increased 0.5% and 0.3% respectively.
Apart from the rise in manufacturing output, building permits for privately-owned housing units also climbed in November. According to the Commerce Department, building permits for new residential construction last month were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,482,000. This marks a 1.4% rise from October’s revised rate of 1,461,000 and is 11.1% higher than the November 2018 rate of 1,334,000.
In addition, privately-owned housing starts in November were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,365,000. This is 3.2% more than the revised October estimate of 1,323,000 and is 13.6% higher than the November 2018 rate of 1,202,000. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Stocks That Made Headlines
FedEx (FDX - Free Report) Down on Q2 Earnings Miss & Bearish FY2020 View
FedEx Corporation (FDX - Free Report) reported lower-than-expected second-quarter fiscal 2020 (ended Nov 30, 2019) results on account of weak global economy due to escalating trade tensions, higher costs at the Ground unit and loss of business with Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) . (Read more)
7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days
Just released: Experts distill 7 elite stocks from the current list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buys. They deem these tickers “Most Likely for Early Price Pops.”
Since 1988, the full list has beaten the market more than 2X over with an average gain of +24.6% per year. So be sure to give these hand-picked 7 your immediate attention.
See 7 handpicked stocks now >>