The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit record highs on Tuesday morning while other stock indices paced themselves to mixed quarterly performances from US banks and ahead of a historic trade accord between the United States and China
NEW YORK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th January, 2020) The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit record highs on Tuesday morning while other stock indices paced themselves to mixed quarterly performances from US banks and ahead of a historic trade accord between the United States and China.
The Dow - Wall Street's broadest equities barometer - struck a new all-time high of 29,935 that bested Monday's peak of 29,010. The Dow gained 23 percent in 2019 for its best performance in two years and is up 1.3 percent for 2020.
The S&P500, the top barometer on the New York Stock Exchange, was, however, down 0.2 percent at 3,283 by 10:30 a.m. as major US banks such as JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup handily beat analysts' estimates in fourth quarter earnings while smaller rival Wells Fargo reported a 55 percent slump in profit.
The S&P500 rose 30 percent last year for its best advance since 2013, and is up 1.6 percent this year.
The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 0.2 percent to 9,260 in Tuesday's early trade, from the record high close of 9,274 in the previous session. The technology sector was the darling of Wall Street investors in 2019, lifting the Nasdaq by 36 percent for the index's best performance in six years. In 2020, the Nasdaq is up more than 3 percent.
In Wednesday's Phase One trade deal, China is expected to pledge purchases of between $40 billion and $50 billion in US farm products annually and a further $80 billion in manufactured goods and more than $50 billion in energy supplies, according to media reports citing officials knowledgeable with the accord.
