Overseas Market Report
Wall Street’s major indexes have risen on optimism over trade talks between the United States and China, though they fell from session highs after President Donald Trump criticised the Federal Reserve for raising interest rates.
US stocks moved lower in the last 10 minutes of the session on Monday after Trump, in an interview with Reuters, said he was “not thrilled” with Fed chairman Jerome Powell and accused China and Europe of manipulating their respective currencies. But stocks retained most of their gains from earlier in the day, as talks between the US and China planned for later this week provided a boost to the trade-sensitive industrial sector. Industrial stocks rose 0.6 per cent.
The S&P 500 energy and materials indexes both rose 0.7 per cent as easing trade concerns also helped lift prices of oil and metal. “What’s working are things that would benefit from any relief on the trade side,” said Keith Lerner, chief market strategist at SunTrust Advisory Services in Atlanta. “Industrials, materials and energy are all outperforming.” The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Monday rose 89.37 points, or 0.35 per cent, to 25,758.69, the S&P 500 gained 6.92 points, or 0.24 per cent, to 2,857.05 and the Nasdaq Composite added 4.68 points, or 0.06 per cent, to 7,821.01.
Morning Note - Tuesday 21st August