S&P 500 gains to extend record run, set for positive week
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* Trump says U.S. 'very close' to trade deal with China
* U.S. offers to cancel new round of China tariffs - WSJ
* Indexes up: Dow 1.01%, S&P 500 1.02%, Nasdaq 1.02%
(Updates to open)
By Shreyashi Sanyal
Dec 12 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks hit record levels on Thursday
after President Donald Trump tweeted that the United States was
"very close" to a trade deal with China and on a report that
U.S. trade negotiators had offered to cancel a fresh round of
tariffs on Chinese goods.
The three main indexes opened lower but quickly gained
ground after Trump's statement, which comes just days before the
tariffs go into effect on Dec. 15. The Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. negotiators have
offered to slash existing tariffs by as much as half on roughly
$360 billion of Chinese-made goods, supporting the bounce.
"What Trump is saying and what China is responding to would
suggest that maybe we are more at a status quo level of a
detente than at further deterioration in relationships," said
Willie Delwiche, investment strategist at Baird.
"We want to see evidence that things aren't deteriorating
and if tariffs are getting delayed or rolled back, that's
evidence."
Markets also took comfort from the Federal Reserve's move on
Wednesday to hold interest rates steady.
The record run in U.S. stocks has been supported by three
rate cuts this year, a calmer tone on trade and some relief in
corporate earnings. The S&P 500 index .SPX is now up more than
26% so far this year. Data on Thursday showed the number of Americans filing
applications for unemployment benefits jumped to more than a
two-year high last week, while another report showed U.S.
producer prices were unexpectedly unchanged in November. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was up 282.08
points, or 1.01%, at 28,193.38, the S&P 500 .SPX was up 31.96
points, or 1.02%, at 3,173.59 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC
was up 88.00 points, or 1.02%, at 8,742.05.
Starbucks Corp SBUX.O rose 2.6% after J.P. Morgan raised
its rating on the coffee chain to "overweight".
General Electric GE.N climbed 4% after UBS upgraded the
industrial conglomerate's shares to "buy".
Shares of Delta Air Lines Inc DAL.N jumped 4.3% as the
carrier forecast increase in profit and revenue in 2020.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.95-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 2.85-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 73 new 52-week highs and one new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 147 new highs and 28 new lows.