FYI: U.S. stocks advanced Thursday amid renewed hopes for progress in the trade dispute between the U.S. and China.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 326 points, or 1.25%. The S&P 500 added 1.27%, led by gains in trade-sensitive technology and industrial stocks. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 1.48%.
Analysts and investors said the gains were driven in part by upbeat sentiment on the prospects for face-to-face talks between the world’s two biggest economies in Washington next month.
Shares of industrial conglomerates Caterpillar and Stanley Black & Decker climbed 2.6% and 2.2%, respectively. Meanwhile, shares of chip makers including Nvidia, Broadcom and Micron Technology—which have been caught in the crosshairs of the trade battle—added at least 3.2% apiece.
Stocks have had a turbulent August amid renewed anxieties surrounding trade, with all three major indexes down at least 1.7% this month. All three are still sitting within roughly 5% of their records.
Investors were also sorting through economic data. U.S. gross domestic product—the broadest measure of the nation’s output of goods and services—rose at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2% in the second quarter, compared with the previous estimate of a 2.1% rise. The government said consumers spent more than previously estimated in the April to June period, but the housing sector, exports and inventory investment were more of a drag than initially thought.
Meanwhile, U.S. jobless claims rose slightly to 215,000 last week, though the figure remains at a historically low level.
The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury climbed to 1.523% Thursday from 1.469% Wednesday, while the two-year Treasury yield edged up to 1.534% from 1.504%, according to Tradeweb.
In Thursday’s action, shares of Best Buy fell 8.6% after the consumer electronics retailer reported second-quarter sales that disappointed investors.
Discount retailers got a lift, with shares of Dollar General rallying 11% on stronger-than-expected earnings.
Elsewhere, the Stoxx Europe 600 rose 1%. In Asia, the Shanghai Composite and Japan’s Nikkei both slipped 0.1%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.3%.
Regards,
Ted
Bloomberg Evening Briefing:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-28/your-evening-briefingMarketWatch:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/dow-futures-up-over-250-points-as-china-tamps-down-fears-of-further-trade-war-escalation-2019-08-29/printWSJ:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/stocks-rise-on-hopes-for-trade-talks-11567066112Bloomberg:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-28/asian-stocks-set-for-muted-open-dollar-gains-markets-wrap?srnd=premiumIBD:
https://www.investors.com/market-trend/stock-market-today/dow-jones-racks-up-734-point-weekly-gain-stock-market-rally/CNBC:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/29/stock-market-wall-street-in-focus-amid-recession-fears.htmlReuters:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-stocks/wall-street-rises-after-china-trade-comments-tech-boost-idUSKCN1VJ1EPU.K:
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-europe-stocks-uk-italy-graphic/a-tale-of-two-crises-london-and-milan-stocks-diverge-idUKKCN1VJ225Europe:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-stocks/italy-boost-upbeat-trade-comments-help-european-shares-gain-ground-idUSKCN1VJ0N9Asia:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/29/asia-markets-august-29-us-treasury-yields-us-china-trade-oil.htmlBonds:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/29/bonds-treasury-yields-off-record-lows.htmlCurrencies:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/29/forex-markets-japanese-yen-brexit-in-focus.htmlOil:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/29/oil-markets-us-crude-inventories-in-focus.htmlGold:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/29/gold-markets-global-economy-in-focus.htmlWSJ: Markets At A Glance:
https://markets.wsj.com/usMajor ETFs % Change:
https://www.barchart.com/etfs-funds/etf-monitorSPDR's Sector Tracker:
http://www.sectorspdr.com/sectorspdr/tools/sector-trackerSPDR's Bloomberg Sector Performance Pie Chart:
https://www.bloomberg.com/markets/sectorsCurrent Futures:
https://finviz.com/futures.ashx 
