Americans won’t get a total reprieve after China trade deal as effects of lost factory jobs, pricier goods linger
January 15, 2020Dow Closes Above 29,000 After China and U.S. Sign Trade Truce
January 16, 2020(Reuters) – U.S. stocks climbed but were off earlier intraday records on Wednesday after the United States and China signed a Phase 1 trade agreement and pledged to resolve a tariff dispute that has roiled financial markets for over a year.
The centerpiece of the truce is a pledge by China to purchase at least an additional $200 billion worth of U.S. farm products and other goods and services over two years, over a baseline of $186 billion in purchases in 2017.
The trade agreement clears the way for investors to focus on upcoming quarterly earnings reports, including the outlooks companies provide in light of the deal.
“There’s no question from a psychological viewpoint it’s a big relief for the market,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York. “There are still CEOs that are dubious, but this might help capital investments, and that was the biggest missing link to the economy over the last few years.”
Trump said he would remove all U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports as soon as the two countries complete the Phase 2 trade agreement, on which negotiations will start soon.
The three main stock indexes gave up early record highs, with disappointing earnings reports from Bank of America pushing the S&P financial index .SPSY down 0.6%.
Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit, but warned of weak net interest income in the first half of 2020, knocking its shares down 2.1%.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) added 0.5% despite reporting a bigger-than-expected fall in profit as it set aside more money to cover legal costs.
At 2:27 pm ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was up 0.54% at 29,095.54 points, while the S&P 500 .SPX gained 0.33% to 3,293.84.
The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 0.32% to 9,280.96.
UnitedHealth Group Inc (UNH.N), the largest U.S. health insurer, rose 3.5% as it affirmed its full-year outlook for 2020 adjusted earnings. The S&P healthcare index .SPXHC climbed 1.0%.
Retailer Target Corp (TGT.N) slumped 7.3% after it missed its own expectations for 2019 holiday season sales after reporting a drop in online growth and demand for toys and electronics.
Toymakers Mattel Inc (MAT.O) and Hasbro Inc (HAS.O) fell 4.8% and 2.6%, respectively, while electronics seller Best Buy (BBY.N) dropped 1.4%.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.46-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.51-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 72 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 143 new highs and 15 new lows.