Wall Street gains for third day on signs of trade talk progress

Reuters 

By Sruthi Shankar

Though little details emerged, a member of the U.S. delegation said the talks will continue for an unscheduled third day.

U.S. earlier tweeted that the talks were going "very well".

Trade-sensitive stocks such as and rose more than 2 percent, boosting the

rose 2 percent, adding to Monday's gains that helped the market power higher and the overtake Corp to become Wall Street's most valuable company. was up 1.2 percent.

has surged in the past two days, helped by a strong jobs data and the Federal Reserve chief's remarks that calmed worries that interest rate hikes would hurt growth.

"With the U.S. and in talks to de-escalate their trade conflict, the central showing a willingness to slow its tightening cycle and the economy still performing well, the markets may be looking a little more attractive," Craig Erlam, at in London, wrote in a note.

Trade and concerns over slowing economic growth triggered a selloff at the end of 2018 that culminated in posting its worst monthly performance in about a decade in December, driving down earnings estimate and stock valuations.

The S&P 500 hit a record high on Sept. 21 before tumbling about 20 percent to a 20-month low on

The index has climbed more than 9 percent since then, with investors waiting for the fourth-quarter earnings season to kick off for a clear picture on how the trade war and a global slowdown will affect profits.

Analysts estimate S&P 500 companies to increase their fourth-quarter earnings per share by 14.8 percent. That compares with expectations of 20 percent growth three months ago, according to Refinitiv IBES data.

At 10:06 a.m. ET, the was up 271.57 points, or 1.15 percent, at 23,802.92. The S&P 500 was up 23.77 points, or 0.93 percent, at 2,573.46 and the Composite was up 56.01 points, or 0.82 percent, at 6,879.48.

All the 11 S&P sectors were higher, with industrial, and posting gains of more than 1 percent.

The battered sector also rose 0.9 percent, led by and Apple Inc.

Samsung Electronics' profit warning due to weak chip demand again turned the spotlight on growth in the sector after Apple rare move to cut sales forecast.

said in a note it expects companies to face a challenging year, particularly in the first half.

shares fell about 10.6 percent after S&P Global Ratings stripped the power utility of its investment-grade credit rating and kept it under review for a further downgrade.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 4.57-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 2.13-to-1 ratio on the

The S&P index recorded no new 52-week highs and 1 new lows, while the recorded 17 new highs and 9 new lows.

(Reporting by in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Tue, January 08 2019. 20:58 IST