New York: US President Donald Trump on Monday suggested the United States and Mexico were close to a “big deal” on trade after days of negotiations between the two partners in the North American Free Trade Agreement. “A big deal looking good with Mexico!” Trump wrote in a post on Twitter.
Wall Street jumped higher at the start of trading on Monday, buoyed by progress in trade talks between the US and Mexico, with stocks adding to last week’s record. Nasdaq Composite Index passed the 8,000-point mark for the first time on Monday and was up 0.8% at 8,012.03.
Meanwhile electric automaker Tesla to sank at the open following CEO Elon Musk’s surprise announcement late Friday that he would not be taking the company private after all. About 10 minutes into the day’s trading, the benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average was up more than 150 points, or 0.6%, to reach 25,949.40.
The S&P and the Nasdaq both closed at records on Friday.
“The fear of missing out on further gains is another supportive element underpinning the futures market this morning,” Patrick O’Hare wrote at Briefing.com.
“It is easy to understand why considering how resilient the stock market has been in the face of any negative developments.”
Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo told reporters in Washington there is “one very important issue” remaining in talks with the US, but declined to elaborate. “If we finish this item we will be concluded.” However, Guajardo said efforts to revamp NAFTA would not be complete until a final agreement is reached with Canada.
Tesla down about 1%, following Musk’s surprise announcement on Friday night that the electric carmaker would remain a publicly-traded company. Musk surprised marketers on 7 August when he announced he had “secured” funding to take the company private, spurring inquiries from market regulators and stunning investors.