US markets end higher after US-China trade deal signed

16 Jan 2020 Evaluate

The US markets ended higher on Wednesday after President Donald Trump signed the first phase of a trade pact with China. Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He signed a long-awaited preliminary trade pact in the East Room of the White House and investors were heartened by some of the details of the deal released by the Trump administration. The text of the deal includes promises by the Chinese to increase their purchases of US agricultural, manufacturing, and energy products, along with purchases of services, by more than $200 billion over the next two years, though it also states that the parties acknowledge that purchases will be made at market prices based on commercial considerations. It also includes commitments by the Chinese to enforce intellectual property theft laws and a bilateral evaluation and dispute resolution arrangement that will encourage the US and China to work jointly to resolves allegations of patent and copyright infringement or intellectual property theft.

On the economic data front, a report released by the Labor Department showed a modest increase in US producer prices in the month of December. The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand inched up by 0.1 percent in December after coming in unchanged in November. Street had expected prices to rise by 0.2 percent. The uptick in producer prices was partly due to a jump in energy prices, which surged up by 1.5 percent in December after climbing by 0.6 percent in November. Besides, partly reflecting a notably faster rate of growth in new orders, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York released a report showing a modest acceleration in the pace of growth in regional manufacturing activity in the month of January. The New York Fed said its general business conditions index edged up to 4.8 in January from a revised 3.3 in December, with a positive reading indicating growth in regional manufacturing activity. Street had expected the general business conditions index to come in unchanged compared to the 3.5 originally reported for the previous month.

Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 90.55 points or 0.31 percent to 29030.22, Nasdaq added 7.37 points or 0.08 percent to 9258.70 and S&P 500 was up by 6.14 points or 0.19 percent to 3289.29.

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