The Dow hit a new record of 27,500 points in Monday morning trading, with traders emboldened by good news in the October jobs report and the government’s third quarter GDP estimate which showed a 1.9 percent expansion between July and September, above the 1.6 percent expected by Wall Street.
According to the October jobs report, the US added some 128,000 jobs for the month, above the 85,000 expected by economists.
CNBC reports that the new record can be partially attributed to market hopes that the US could sign a trade deal with China in the near future and end the one-and-a-half-year long trade spat which has affected hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of goods from both countries. US and Chinese officials confirmed Friday that they had made substantial progress and reached a “consensus on principles” in efforts to reach a deal, with Trump later telling the press that he would like to see a deal demonstratively signed somewhere in the US by himself and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Adding to the good news for markets over the weekend, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the US would issue a third extension to licenses to US tech companies to continue selling their parts to China’s Huawei Technologies despite restrictions placed on the Chinese tech giant earlier this year. US tech companies including Microsoft and Intel had previously warned that they would lose billions of dollars if their ability to do business with Huawei was cut off.
As of 1:30 pm, the Dow was up 0.4 percent, or 106 points, to 27,453 points, with the S&P posting gains of 0.4 percent, up 13.49 points to 3,080. The Nasdaq posted the strongest overall gains, and was up 0.6 percent, or 52 points, and sitting at 8,438 points.
Strong showings were exhibited by Apple, which rallied over 25 percent in mid-day trading, with Intel, JP Morgan Chase and United Technologies showing gains of 10 percent or more.
President Trump tweeted about the stock markets’ performance on Monday morning, but later published a second tweet accusing that “Fake News” media of ignoring the gains to only talk about “the Impeachment Hoax!” as Democratic lawmakers released the first redacted transcripts of testimony in the Trump impeachment probe.
Stock Market hits RECORD HIGH. Spend your money well!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 4 ноября 2019 г.
All-Time High for Stock Market and all the Fake News wants to talk about is the Impeachment Hoax!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 4 ноября 2019 г.
According to CNBC, the Dow’s performance on Monday is putting it on course to an 18 percent gain since the beginning of the year. The S&P, meanwhile, is up over 22 percent in 2019, with the Nasdaq up 27 percent for the year.
