FYI: U.S. stocks climbed toward records Monday, buoyed by a rally in shares of technology companies.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 190 points, or 0.68%, to 28,066. The S&P 500 added 0.75% and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.32%, with the three indexes having fresh closing highs.
Stocks around the world got a boost after Chinese officials called for speeding up the introduction of penalties and punitive action for infringement of patents and copyrights in a document released Sunday. The U.S. has indicated it wants clearer assurances that China will follow through on the commitments it has made on the issue, and on others such as agricultural purchases, before negotiators will travel to Beijing for a new round of talks for a “phase one” trade deal.
Optimism on trade sent investors out of gold, which tends to gain favor when money managers are feeling more uncertain about the growth outlook. The precious metal fell 0.4% to $1,457 a troy ounce.
Riskier assets such as stocks rallied, with shares of technology companies among the biggest gainers in the U.S.
Advanced Micro Devices and Nvidia rose 1.8% and 4.1%, respectively. The semiconductor firms’ shares have often fallen when investors have gotten more nervous about U.S.-China trade tensions and rebounded on signs of progress between Beijing and Washington.
Doubts about the U.S. and China’s ability to reach an agreement on trade have driven volatility throughout global markets this year, although major U.S. indexes have nevertheless managed to climb double-digit percentages in 2019.
A flurry of deal-making activity also drove swings among individual stocks Monday.
Tiffany shares added 6% after LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton said it reached an agreement to buy the U.S. jeweler for more than $16 billion. LVMH shares gained 2% in Paris.
Charles Schwab rose 1.3% after it agreed to buy smaller rival TD Ameritrade Holding in a stock-swap transaction valued at about $26 billion. TD Ameritrade shares climbed 6.7%.
EBay shares jumped 1.2% after the e-commerce company said it agreed to sell its StubHub ticketing business to a Switzerland-based firm, Viagogo.
In the U.K., the pound rose 0.4% against the U.S. dollar as the Conservative Party maintained a lead in weekend opinion polls after unveiling its manifesto for the Dec. 12 general elections. Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Sunday made a series of spending pledges and ruled out increases in income tax. The FTSE 100 index advanced 0.9%.
The market is starting to anticipate that the Conservative Party, which has avoided taking any extreme positions in its manifesto, will win a majority in the elections, Hermès Investment Management’s Mr. Grant said.
The pan-continental Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 1%, led by gains in the basic resources and travel and leisure sectors.
Regards,
Ted
Bloomberg Evening Briefing:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-11-25/your-evening-briefingMarketWatch:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/stock-index-futures-point-slightly-higher-amid-positive-trade-developments-2019-11-25/printWSJ:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/global-stocks-gain-as-china-moves-to-boost-intellectual-property-rights-11574677146Bloomberg:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-11-24/stocks-in-asia-face-mixed-start-yen-yuan-steady-markets-wrap?srnd=premiumIBD:
https://www.investors.com/market-trend/stock-market-today/stock-market-surges-china-trade-merger-mania-nasdaq-sp-hit-records-dow-nears-one/CNBC:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/25/stock-market-wall-street-in-focus-amid-earnings-and-economic-data.htmlReuters:
https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-usa-stocks/trade-optimism-fuels-sp-nasdaq-to-records-idUKKBN1XZ1GRU.K:
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-stocks/recharged-trade-hopes-boost-ftse-mid-caps-hit-15-month-high-idUKKBN1XZ0RKEurope:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-stocks/transatlantic-dealmaking-sends-european-shares-back-to-four-year-peak-idUSKBN1XZ0RMAsia:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/25/asia-stocks-november-25-hong-kong-district-council-elections-currencies.htmlBonds:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/25/us-treasury-yields-ahead-of-powell-speech.htmlCurrencies:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/15/forex-markets-us-china-trade-deal-in-focus.htmlOil
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/25/oil-markets-us-china-trade-talks-in-focus.htmlGold:
https://www.cnbc.com/video/2019/11/25/video/2019/10/08/cashin.html?&qsearchterm=Art CashinWSJ: 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 
