By Sruthi Shankar
(Reuters) – U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday, as industrial stocks and Amazon helped extend Wall Street’s rebound for a third day on rising hopes of progress in U.S.-China trade talks.
Though little details emerged, a member of the U.S. delegation said the talks will continue for an unscheduled third day.
U.S. President Donald Trump earlier tweeted that the talks were going “very well”.
Trade-sensitive stocks such as Boeing Co Amazon.com Inc Wall Street 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 China in talks to de-escalate their trade conflict, the central bank 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, senior market analyst at Oanda in London, wrote in a note. Trade and concerns over slowing economic growth triggered a selloff at the end of 2018 that culminated in Wall Street posting its worst monthly performance in about a decade in December, driving down earnings estimate and stock valuations. The S&P 500 <.SPX> hit a record high on Sept. 21 before tumbling about 20 percent to a 20-month low on Christmas Eve.
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. (GRAPHIC: U.S. profit growth since 1968 – https://tmsnrt.rs/2RzHi55)
At 10:06 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI> was up 271.57 points, or 1.15 percent, at 23,802.92. The S&P 500 <.SPX> was up 23.77 points, or 0.93 percent, at 2,573.46 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> was up 56.01 points, or 0.82 percent, at 6,879.48. All the 11 major S&P sectors were higher, with industrial <.SPLRCI>, energy <.SPNY> and communication services <.SPLRCL> posting gains of more than 1 percent.
The battered technology sector <.SPLRCT> also rose 0.9 percent, led by Microsoft and Apple Inc Samsung Electronics’ <005930.KS> profit warning due to weak chip demand again turned the spotlight on growth in the sector after Apple rare move to cut sales forecast.
Goldman Sachs said in a note it expects semiconductor companies to face a challenging year, particularly in the first half.
PG&E Corp Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 4.57-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 2.13-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded no new 52-week highs and 1 new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 17 new highs and 9 new lows.
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
