· Wall Street’s major stock indexes slipped from record highs on Monday as investors booked profits from gains made this month after the United States and China reached a trade deal.
The S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq posted their biggest one-day percentage declines in about four weeks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 183.12 points, or 0.64%, to 28,462.14, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 18.73 points, or 0.58%, to 3,221.29 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 60.62 points, or 0.67%, to8,945.99.
· Wall Street edges higher; S&P closes decade with nearly 190% gain
Wall Street’s major indexes edged higher on Tuesday on a renewed rally fueled by trade optimism, capping off a decade of handsome returns in which the benchmark S&P 500 rose nearly 190%.
Both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq notched their biggest annual percentage gains since 2013, while the Dow closed 2019 with its biggest yearly percentage gain since 2017. In 2019, the current bull run in U.S. stocks became the longest one on record as trade optimism, dovish monetary policy and an improving economic outlook fueled sharp gains.
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump said on Twitter that the Phase 1 U.S.-China trade deal would be signed on Jan. 15 at the White House, bolstering widespread expectations of a finalized preliminary agreement in early 2020. That development was offset, however, by news of violent protests outside the U.S. embassy in Baghdad.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 76.3 points, or 0.27%, to 28,538.44, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 9.49 points, or 0.29%, to 3,230.78 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 26.61 points, or 0.3%, to 8,972.60.
Wall Street’s major indexes posted significant gains for the month, quarter and year. In December, the Dow added 1.73%, the S&P 500 2.87% and the Nasdaq 3.56%. In the fourth quarter of 2019, the Dow gained6.02%, the S&P 500 8.55% and the Nasdaq 12.18%.
For the year, the Dow rose 22.33%, the S&P 500 28.9% and the Nasdaq 35.24%.
The benchmark S&P 500 also posted its biggest December percentage gain since 2010.
For the decade, the Dow advanced 173.67%, the S&P 500 189.72% and the Nasdaq 295.42%.
The S&P 500 posted four new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 89 new highs and 26 new lows.
· Chinese stocks higher in last trading day of the year; Shanghai soars more than 20% for 2019
Chinese stocks were higher on the final trading day of 2019, with other major markets in Asia either on holiday or seeing an early close.
The Shanghai composite edged 0.33% higher to about 3,050.12 while the Shenzhen component added 0.63% to 10,430.77. The Shenzhen composite also rose 0.551% to approximately 1,722.95.
For 2019, the Shanghai composite has seen gains of more than 22%, while the Shenzhen component has soared about 44%. The Shenzhen composite has also seen returns of approximately 35.9%. That came following2018, when Chinese markets saw their worst performance in a decade.
· Stocks in Australia turn negative as investors await Chinese manufacturing data
Shares in Australia traded lower in the morning of the first trading day of the year, ahead of the release of a private survey on manufacturing activity in China for December.
The S&P/ASX 200 shed earlier gains to decline 0.17% in morning trade, with majority of the sectors slipping into negative territory.
Over in South Korea, data released Wednesday showed the country’s exports falling less than expected in December. The South Korean markets are expected to begin trading later at 09:00 a.m. HK/SIN due to a temporary change of trading hours for Jan. 2, according to the Korea Exchange.
South Korea’s exports for that month declined 5.2% in December as compared to a year earlier, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing data from the country’s trade ministry. That was lower than median expectations of a6.0% fall from a Reuters poll.
Investors will also await the release of China’s Caixin/Markit manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for December, expected to be out around 09:45 a.m. HK/SIN. The official manufacturing PMI released Tuesday came in slightly above expectations.
Markets in Japan are closed on Thursday for a market holiday.
Reference: CNBC, Reuters
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