FYI: Optimism on trade and a fresh batch of earnings results helped push the S&P 500 toward a fresh closing high and its third straight week of gains.
The stock index rose 12 points, or 0.41%, to 3,022 in midday trading, briefly climbing above its previous closing record of 3025.86 from July 26.
Stock gains accelerated and Treasury yields jumped higher after reports that the U.S. and China made progress in trade discussions, edging closer to finalizing portions of a phase one deal.
Shares of tech and industrials giants were the biggest winners of the S&P 500’s 11 sectors. Caterpillar, a bellwether stock for trade, jumped 3.6%. Earlier this week, the manufacturing company slashed its profit forecast for the year, saying global economic uncertainty is prompting customers to delay big purchases and weighing on sales. It was one of several high-profile earnings disappointments, though broader financial releases have been mixed, analysts said.
The Nasdaq Composite reversed an early loss to add about 0.70%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.57%. Those indexes are 1.2% and 1.5%, respectively, from their July highs.
Friday’s moves helped propel the market out of a stretch of listless trading this week as investors have parsed third-quarter earnings results. The S&P 500 and Dow haven’t had a 1% move up or down in more than a week. A mixed bag of corporate earnings results has helped drive modest moves in the broader market, which have been underpinned by large swings in shares of individual companies.
Investors continued to look to corporate results for broader cues on the health of the economy, driving big moves under the surface Friday.
Intel raised its outlook for the year Thursday after it posted an increase in third-quarter earnings, sending shares 7.6% higher in early trading.
Charter Communications rose 6.6% after the cable company’s third-quarter profit fell less than expected and revenue beat forecasts.
Shares of Amazon.com dropped about 1.7% after the tech giant reported a 26% fall in profit as it invested heavily to speed up shipping times.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note jumped to 1.800% after the trade reports, from 1.768% Thursday.
In Europe, fresh economic data and corporate earnings continued to paint a mixed picture of how the biggest businesses in the region are doing.
The outlook for growth and inflation in the eurozone over the coming years was lowered by forecasters surveyed by the European Central Bank. Adding to the subdued economic outlook, market-research group GfK said German consumer sentiment is set to worsen in November, while business expectations in the country improved slightly, according to the Ifo Institute.
Russia’s central bank on Friday cut rates by half a percentage point—the fourth cut since June and the largest to date—highlighting the risk of a global economic slowdown.
The British pound dropped 0.3% against the U.S. dollar, after earlier having recovered from an even sharper drop Thursday evening. Prime Minister Boris Johnson called for a snap general election on Dec. 12 in an effort to pressure his political opponents to back his Brexit deal. The 10-year U.K. gilt yield rose to 0.645% in recent trading, from 0.627%
Regards,
Ted
Bloomberg Evening Briefing:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-25/your-evening-briefingMarketWatch:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stock-futures-step-cautiously-higher-setting-investors-up-for-fresh-run-at-records-2019-10-25/printWSJ:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/european-stocks-drift-down-as-big-businesses-report-earnings-11571994459Bloomberg:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-24/asia-stock-futures-mixed-amazon-weighs-on-tech-markets-wrap?srnd=premiumIBD:
https://www.investors.com/market-trend/the-big-picture/stock-market-uptrend-strengthens-intel-breakout-fuels-all-time-high-for-nasdaq-100/CNBC:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/25/dow-futures-earnings-abinbev-barclays-verizon.htmlReuters:
https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-usa-stocks/sp-500-rises-above-record-closing-high-on-u-s-china-trade-progress-idUKKBN1X41H3U.K:
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-stocks/ftse-100-snaps-four-day-winning-run-amid-brexit-worries-idUKKBN1X40RNEurope:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-stocks/luxury-stocks-drive-fifth-day-of-gains-in-europe-idUSKBN1X40S1Asia:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/25/asia-markets-oct-25-us-china-trade-and-brexit-deal.htmlBonds:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/25/bond-markets-investors-await-corporate-earnings-economic-data.htmlCurrencies:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/25/forex-markets-european-union-meeting-brexit-in-focus.htmlOil
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/25/oil-markets-global-economy-crude-demand-in-focus.htmlGold:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/25/gold-markets-federal-reserve-interest-rates-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 
