US markets end higher amid trade deal hopes

27 Nov 2019 Evaluate

The US markets end at all-time highs on Tuesday as investors focused on US-China trade talks.  A statement from China's Commerce Ministry revealed Chinese Vice Premier Liu He held a phone call with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. The statement said the two sides discussed how to resolve each other's core concerns, reached consensus on how to resolve related issues, and agreed to maintain communication on the remaining issues in the first phase of agreement negotiations. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said that Washington was in the final throes in its efforts to reach a trade deal with China, but also underscored that Americans stand with pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.

Besides, some support also came with an upbeat assessment of the economy from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. Powell outlined an optimistic view of the US economy but signaled that low inflation would likely keep interest rates low. The Fed chief said that the central bank’s three rate cuts this year have helped to spur home purchases, contributing to the economy’s longest expansion on record. On the economic data front, reflecting a softening in consumers' assessment of current conditions, the Conference Board released a report showing US consumer confidence unexpectedly declined for a fourth consecutive month in November. The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index fell to 125.5 in November from an upwardly revised 126.1 in October. Street had expected the consumer confidence index to inch up to 126.9 from the 125.9 originally reported for the previous month. The unexpected drop by the headline index came as the present situation index slumped to 166.9 in November from 173.5 in October.

Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 55.21 points or 0.20 percent to 28121.68, Nasdaq rose 15.44 points or 0.18 percent to 8647.93 and S&P 500 was up by 6.88 points or 0.22 percent to 3140.52.

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