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* Best Buy jumps on solid holiday-quarter profit forecast
* Consumer confidence in November weaker than expected
* Dow up 0.13%, S&P 500 up 0.14%, Nasdaq up 0.22%
(Updates to mid-afternoon; changes byline)
By Chuck Mikolajczak
NEW YORK, Nov 26 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks edged higher on
Tuesday, building on the prior day's record closing levels, as
positive comments by President Donald Trump on trade talks and
gains for Disney and Best Buy overshadowed some
softer-than-anticipated economic data.
Trump said the United States and China were close to an
agreement on the first phase of a deal, while stressing
Washington's support for protesters in Hong Kong, a point of
contention between the world's two largest economies.
"Some of the trade proxies just keep heading up so that does
mean there is more optimism for China trade," said Ben Phillips,
chief investment officer at Eventshares in Newport Beach,
California.
"It is probably the right base case," he added. "If
something gets done, there might be a little sell-the-news event
after that I expect."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 35.17 points,
or 0.13%, to 28,101.64, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 4.47 points,
or 0.14%, to 3,138.11, and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added
19.26 points, or 0.22%, to 8,651.75.
Walt Disney Co DIS.N gained 2.04% after a report that its
streaming service was averaging nearly 1 million new subscribers
a day. The stock helped keep the Dow Jones Industrial Average on
the plus side, providing about 20 points to the upside.
Rising hopes for a trade deal between the world's two
largest economies, solid U.S. economic indicators and a
third-quarter corporate earnings season that has largely topped
lowered expectations have pushed stocks higher. The three major
indexes notched their fourth record close in seven sessions on
Monday.
Also supporting stocks has been the dovish turn by the
Federal Reserve, which has cut interest rates three times this
year. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said on Monday that monetary
policy was "well positioned" to support the strong labor market.
Investors are watching for signs on the health of the
consumer for the holiday shopping season. Consumer confidence
fell for a fourth straight month in November but remained at
levels sufficient to support a steady pace of consumer spending,
according to data on Tuesday. A separate report showed that new
home sales unexpectedly dropped in October, although data for
the prior month was revised up, with purchases hitting their
highest level in over 12 years. Eight of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were higher. The
consumer discretionary sector .SPLRCD rose 0.71% and provided
the biggest boost, led by an 11.42% jump in shares of Best Buy
Co Inc BBY.N following a strong holiday-quarter profit
forecast. In contrast, Dollar Tree Inc DLTR.O tumbled 16.50% after
it projected holiday-quarter profit below estimates, signaling
the fallout from the trade dispute. Best Buy was the best performer on the S&P 500, while Dollar
Tree was the biggest drag on both the S&P and the Nasdaq.
Among other stocks, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co HPE.N
fell 8.74% as the enterprise software maker missed
fourth-quarter revenue estimates. Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
1.26-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.04-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 31 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 108 new highs and 55 new lows.