NEW YORK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th January, 2020) Wall Street closed at record highs after China's affirmation that it will sign a preliminary trade deal with the White House.
Relief that the United States is not being pressed into a war with Iran, and data showing a weekly drop in US jobless claims, added to market optimism, driving the three major US equity indexes to all-time highs on Thursday.
Wall Street's top barometer, the S&P500 index, closed up 0.7% at a record high of 3,275. The index rallied as China's commerce ministry said Vice Premier Liu He will travel to Washington between January 13 and 15 to sign a "Phase One" trade deal with the White House, just as US President Donald Trump had said.
The S&P500 measures the value of the 500 largest US corporations by market capitalization. It rose 30 percent last year for its best advance since 2013.
The index had opened 2020 at record highs, but lost some of its momentum last week after the US killing of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani led to fears of reprisal from Tehran that could push the United States into a full-out war. Iran did rain two US-Iraqi airbases with missiles on Wednesday without killing anyone, and Trump refrained from launching a new offensive against Tehran, allowing US stocks to reach record highs just before the close of the previous session.
The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index was up 0.8 percent at 9,203. It hit a record high of 9,213 earlier. The technology sector was the darling of Wall Street investors last year, lifting the Nasdaq by 36% for the index's best performance in six years.
US stocks' broad Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.7% to 28,966, after an all-time high of 28,988 earlier. The Dow closed 2019 up 23 percent for its best performance in two years.
